More Than Luck
by Kadi219
Summary: Raydor/Flynn - The road to happiness is filled with more than luck. Sharon and Andy navigate the holidays, the new year, letters, and grumpy partners.
1. Chapter 1

More than Luck

By Kadi

Rated: M

Disclaimer: Major Crimes is not my sandbox, but I enjoyed playing in it!

A/N: I began writing this as an exercise in fluff and fun a few weeks ago. When Episode 2x16: At Risk aired, it became decidedly AU, but just continued growing. Sharon and Andy had a lot they wished to say, and Rusty wouldn't be ignored either. I'm enjoying the potential that we've seen between Sharon and Andy, and maybe this is just what I'd like to see happen between now and season hiatus. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

In hindsight it was completely inevitable. Given everything that they knew about her, or at the very least, given every experience that they'd had with DDA Rios to date, it really was a given that she would jump to the absolute wrong conclusion the very second that her eyes landed upon Gavin Baker chatting and laughing with her witness. She seemed to forget, quite often, that the witness had a name, and was not actually a possession to which she could lay claim. It didn't seem to matter how hard she tried in her efforts to be less annoying, in the end, DDA Emma Rios simply could not see beyond her own needs, wants, and ambitions.

"You have got to be kidding me right now!" Rios's shrill voice filled the murder room. She was staring at Rusty with Gavin, looking completely outraged. "She has gone too far. This. This is it. This is too much."

Two blond heads turned toward her. Rusty looked puzzled, while Gavin tilted his head in silent amusement. The pair of them were leaning against Flynn's desk. The Lieutenant was standing nearby, and the amusement he was previously displaying at their antics faded. He huffed a sigh and rolled his eyes skyward before sharing a, here we go, glance with Tao.

While the others did not seem willing to engage her, Gavin was not quite so accommodating. He stretched his long legs out in front of them and folded his hands in his lap. "DDA Rios. What a pleasant surprise." His cheerful greeting was over embellished, but then, he liked to over embellish a lot of things. "How long has it been dear. Two? Three weeks? Did you miss me. Oh! Those shoes. Gucci?" Gavin looked at Rusty beside him, the teenager still puzzled and looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Between you and me, I prefer Michael Kors or Monolo for the work place, but to each their own yes? Oh my god," he waved a hand at Rusty. "You should see the Jimmy Choo boots that I picked up for…" He lowered his voice, going purposefully conspiratorial with an obvious glance toward the Captain's office. "You know who," he whispered loudly. "Picked them up over the weekend, and they are to die for," he sing-songed. "There's a matching hand bag, I put your name on that one. She'll never believe you had anything to do with it, but she already adores you, so she'll just love me even more."

"Uh." Rusty was blinking rapidly and sliding farther away. He was beginning to look slightly panicked as his gaze swept the room. "I'm really not comfortable having any part of your shopping addiction. Just because you buy things for other people does not mean that you're not sick." Emma was turning an interesting shade of puce, and so Rusty played along. Gavin was funny. He liked the lawyer, and he made Sharon giggle. Not just laughter, but giggle, the two of them were a pair - especially when there was a bottle of Moscato involved. He sometimes thought they were absolute, polar opposites, but apparently they liked a lot of the same things and they went back. Way, way back. He would still like to get out of there, though. Emma was going to explode, and he could do without being part of that. Besides, he hadn't done anything. Lately.

"Katie warned me about you," Rusty continued. "You are a bad, bad man who will use anyone that you can for your shopping obsession, and the fact that you couldn't possibly fit anything else into your condo."

"Lies!" Gavin placed a hand against his chest. "I'm deeply disturbed and hurt by this. My own goddaughter." He craned his head toward Sharon's office. "The fruit of your loins has rotted. It's spreading horrible, unfounded, completely malicious untruths." Flynn had his phone in his hand, and must have alerted her to Emma's presence and current outrage. Sharon had appeared, holding a folder in one hand and her phone in the other. Sneaky, those two. "After I had to suffer through nine hours of that labor, the sleepless nights, the lack of shopping, and no cocktails, what do I get? Lies and recriminations."

More than accustomed to Gavin's overly dramatic take on life, Sharon simply rolled her eyes at him. "She is only your goddaughter in name, and only because the two of you share a deeply passionate obsession with designer footwear that you have been nurturing since she was five. As to the rest, it was six hours, and you haven't missed a moment of beauty sleep in your entire life. Not to mention the fact that I didn't meet you until three years after Katherine was born, but the story is getting better. I will give you points for that." She folded her arms, holding the folder against her chest and tilted her head at him. There was suspicion in her narrowed eyes. "DDA Rios, what can we do for you today? We were expecting DDA Hobbs."

Her mouth was open, but she was scarcely able to make any sound. Instead, she was pointing at Gavin and Rusty, then at Raydor. She managed a couple of squeaks before she snapped her mouth closed and breathed slowly through her nose. It took another moment before she was capable of coherent speech. It was obvious that she was infuriated about something, given the fact she was practically trembling with it. "Captain, need I remind you that by securing legal counsel for a witness, you are completely undermining his testimony, and opening us up to all sorts of questions by the defense about why he could possibly need legal counsel in the first place. Not to mention that we agreed you would not make any more decisions regarding this trial and my witness without discussing them with me."

For her part, Sharon simply arched a brow at the younger woman. Then her gaze slid toward Gavin. The lawyer shrugged. Then he folded his legs and stood, straightening to his full height. He stood over both women, hands still clasped in front of him. "I'd like to go on record at this point and state that no one here has even the vaguest idea of what you are talking about. You aren't making a lot of sense at the moment, but then, your rarely do. Otherwise you'd have won against me at least once by now. Don't feel badly about that, few people do actually manage to win. Further, I should inform you that I am not now, nor have I ever been on retainer for Captain Raydor." He leaned forward, smiling widely. "Friends don't let friends pay for legal work," he whispered loudly. "I mean, if she had to pay me then she couldn't afford to go shopping with me, and honestly, that would just be… no. You think she's unpleasant now, take away her ability to stay ahead of this season's hottest couture and…" He whistled loudly. Then he caught sight of the look he was getting from the woman he was discussing and grinned widely, but sheepishly. "Too much?"

"A little bit." Sharon walked forward and held out the folder. "All yours." Her phone went into her pocket then her hands found her hips. "Whatever you've done, bought, or considered buying, forget it."

"Too late." He opened the file and made sure that she had signed it. With a surreptitious glance at her over the rims of his glasses he took in her posture and the lines around her eyes. His own eyes narrowed slightly. There was curiosity and amusement in her gaze. There was also a hint of regret. No matter how long this was in coming, it was still not easy. He closed the file and slipped it into the briefcase at his feet.

"Figures." Sharon shook her head in resignation, and then allowed her attention to drift back to Rios. "I'm sorry Emma, I'm not sure what it is you think we've done or conspired to do. Gavin is here on a personal matter, his presence has nothing to do with the trial, no matter how badly he would like for me to ask him to step in on our behalf. I am, despite your belief to the contrary, a woman of my word. I've agreed that we will discuss any further decisions that could impact the trial, outside any of those that I have a right to make as Rusty's legal guardian. If that doesn't duly satisfy your current ire, then I do not believe anything will. Now then, are you here regarding our current case, or are we still waiting on DDA Hobbs?"

"Please say it's Hobbs," Provenza mumbled under his breath. The sooner Rios left them alone, the better they would all be. He didn't think he would ever be less a fan of a woman than he was of Raydor. He was wrong. Oh so incredibly wrong. He was having visions of drawing another witch and broom on the murder board, but naming it differently. Actually, having gotten to know both Raydor and Rios better, Provenza was actually feeling badly about the way they'd once treated the Captain. Almost. She could still be a handful. The problem was, she was their handful now. That meant that they were the only ones allowed to screech at her with indignation and give her a hard time. Although if he were completely honest with himself, he was usually the one screeching. Bellowing loudly in any case. Provenza looked up and caught Flynn's gaze. The pair of them shook their heads, then Provenza went back to his crossword with a quietly grumbled, "Hobbs, Hobbs, Hobbs…"

For her part, Rios did not appear to be following along very well. Now she looked as puzzled as the others and upon her entry. "What are you talking about?" She pointed a hand at Gavin and Rusty. "If you haven't hired him, then what is he doing talking to my witness?"

"Oh my god!" Rusty shot up from his spot on Flynn's desk as though a rocket had gone off in his back pocket. "Are you serious right now? Like, really? Do you even hear yourself? You're like a broken.. um…" He began snapping his fingers, looking for the right word. "You know, thing that old people like them listen to."

"The word you're looking for is record. She's like a broken record." Flynn fixed him with a look. "And hey… watch it kid."

"Right." Rusty didn't miss his beat after that. "You sound like a broken record. Don't talk to my witness," he waved his hands, pantomiming her little fits and tantrums as he imitated her behavior. "Don't let my witness go anywhere. Or have a life. Or like, go to the bathroom by himself. Ooh! He might break a nail. You are like seriously driving me crazy right now. If I weren't already talking to Dr. Joe, I would need to talk to Dr. Joe for no other reason than the fact that you are in my life. You're like a leach, you are seriously sucking the life out of me. I was only sitting here talking to someone, and I'm sorry that the someone I was talking to happens to be a very good lawyer and that you feel completely inferior to him, but it was just a conversation. It had nothing to do with you, and again, I'm very sorry that while you have managed to take over almost my entire life, that there are still some parts of it that do not revolve around you!"

Fists clenched, and breathing hard, Rusty had taken a step forward. Sharon intercepted him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Alright, that's enough. She gave the shoulder a squeeze to draw his attention. Her smile was pained, but her eyes were soft. She knew what this was doing to him. It was all painful and unfortunate, and worst of all there was nothing that she could do to shield him from any of it. "Go, walk it off."

"Really?" Rusty huffed. "She comes in here and starts screaming at everyone, and I get…"

"No." Sharon cut him off before he could turn his tantrum on her. "That's not it at all. You made your point, and it was a good one. But right now you need to go and cool off. So go. Take a walk," she enunciated slowly, gaze never wavering. "Go on," she turned him gently toward the exit and nodded for his ever present security escort to join him.

"Fine." Rusty understood what she was doing. At least, he hoped he did. He hoped she was sending him away because she was about to tear Emma apart, and him being the kid, it really was inappropriate for her to do it in front of him. It was one of those weird little rules that Sharon loved so much. Rusty trudged toward the door, glancing back only once. Sharon was watching him, arms now folded across her chest. He huffed another sigh and walked out of the murder room.

"Okay look," Emma had whirled and was now glowering at Sharon. "You are going to have to get that kid under control, or we are going to have to find someone else who can. I cannot have him going off like that and attacking me…"

"Hm." Sharon hummed quietly. "Oh, I completely agree," she strolled slowly forward, voice dropping a notch and becoming quieter.

Members of her squad had exchanged looks. Gavin had taken a full step back and noticed Detective Sanchez gripping the edge of his desk. Oh, they were good. They had already gotten to know her. They, each of them, had recognized the danger in the situation. This was going to be interesting, Gavin decided. Even old man Provenza had put down his crossword and was looking on, dare he say, with some amount of eagerness?

"I think the problem here is not only with Rusty's outburst, and while I will handle that, I can understand the frustration behind it. I'm not entirely sure what happened here, as I did not witness the entire exchange, but given that this is only one of several other such episodes, I can imagine what took place. The issue at hand is your behavior." Sharon stopped in front of Emma and stared down her nose at the younger woman. "Yes. Rusty is a material witness, that happens to be a fact that you have never allowed a single one of us forget. What you seem to have forgotten is that he is not your witness. He is not a possession. He is not a thing. He is a child. A child whose life happens to have been turned upside down again and again, and before you open your mouth again, DDA Rios," Sharon could see her gearing up to do just that. "You need to remember that you only recall or care that he is a child when it suits your purpose to do so. I understand how much pressure you must be feeling. If Phillip Stroh goes free it's ultimately on your head. That's quite a big responsibility, and I get how important it must make you feel. Given the short length of time you've spent with the DA's office, to this point in your career, this is the most important trial you've had. At the same time, the world does not revolve around you. It does not revolve around this trial. We have entire conversations that have nothing to do with you. I dare say we've even gone days without mentioning your name even once. Whatever is going on inside that little head of yours, DDA Rios, when you are here, I want you to check it at the door. My murder room is no place for your little tantrums, for your emotional outbursts, or whatever else has got you screeching like a banshee at the moment."

She turned on her heel, a clear signal that the conversation was over, and strode back to Gavin. "You'll take care of that?"

He gave her a look, as though questioning her sanity. "Of course I will. Oh, I get it. I'm being dismissed." Gavin pouted. "No fun." He grabbed his brief case. "I'll call you. It's been fun gentlemen, and Sykes. Next time I will bring refreshments." He stopped at the door and turned back. "Call me," he ordered Sharon, his playful demeanor gone in a second and his look penetrating and serious. "Or I'll come back and be not so friendly."

"I guess we're waiting for Hobbs," Provenza announced. He leaned back in his chair and folded his hands against his stomach. The young DDA had stormed out in a huff ahead of Gavin. "Pity she couldn't stay. I do so miss that Emma when she's not around."

"Hm." Sharon turned on her heel and walked back to her office. She stopped halfway there and sighed before turning back. "I do apologize. That was… unfortunate." She shrugged a single shoulder and gave them a sheepish half grin. Life with Rusty often overflowed into the workplace, and despite all of the years that she spent keeping life and home completely separate of one another it all seemed to be right out the window from the moment she joined Major Crimes.

"You're kidding me right?" Flynn gave her an incredulous look. "She totally flipped out and jumped to the wrong conclusion and you are apologizing for the unfortunate scene that we all just witnessed? Come on, Captain. We were all here. There's no reason to apologize for anything. Rios is… well, to put it plainly, an absolute pain in the ass. And I for one hope you go easy on the kid. She had it coming."

"Be that as it may," she stated, in her usual low tone, "there is a time and a place and this was not it. Lieutenant Provenza," she looked past Andy, "you'll tell me when DDA Hobbs arrives?"

"Yeah, sure…" He had gone back to his crossword and waved a hand in her general direction.

Andy watched Sharon disappear behind her office door with a shake of his head. He stood where he was for a moment before looking around at the others. Sanchez merely shrugged and went back to his work. Tao and Buzz said nothing before doing likewise. After waiting a beat, Andy decided that he was not going to let it go. He followed her.

He knocked on the door as he pushed it open, and closed it behind him before she could dodge him by sending him away. "Look, I get it," he walked toward her desk, hands held in front of him. She hadn't even sat down yet, and was looking at him with both surprise and a bit of resignation. "I do, but come on, Sharon. We all know that she was out of line, and we don't mind that you handled it, or that Gavin riled her up even more before you handled it. It's fine. So why don't you tell me what it is that really has you tucking tale and hiding in here?" He leaned over her desk and rested his hands, palms down.

"I beg your pardon?" She folded her arms over her chest and moved so that the desk was firmly between the pair of them. "I am not hiding anywhere. I do not hide." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "I actually have a lot of work to do. This squad generates a lot of paperwork. Since I would like to have it done at a point in time resembling something reasonable and sane, I am doing it now." Sharon waved a hand at her desk, on which there were two sizable stacks of paperwork awaiting her attention. To make her point, she sat down and picked up her pen. "You might try doing a little work of your own, Lieutenant."

She had used her you're pushing it tone. Andy just rolled his eyes at her and leaned closer. "Sharon." His tone dipped, becoming softer. She was good at compartmentalizing. If he hadn't known it just by working with her, then seeing her with Rusty and with the time they'd spent together outside of work would have driven the point home. Sharon had an uncanny ability to become someone else, depending upon the situation, the location, and a number of other factors. Beneath it all, it was still her, simply different facets of her personality and each of them a little more fascinating than the last.

They had witnessed the rule book while she was still in Internal Affairs; with her move to Major Crimes they were allowed to see the detective and the administrator. Say what they would about her adherence to the rules, the woman could run a squad. She was organized, she could balance the politics, and she was fair. With the addition of Rusty to all of their lives they had begun to see the first chinks in the armor of her strict separation between home and work. It had allowed them to see the mother, the woman who had raised two children on her own, while working a job that was neither simple nor always enjoyable. He supposed when they got right down to the heart of it, it was Rusty that introduced them to Sharon. It was hard to say if they would have ever accepted her without having witnessed the glimpses of the woman behind the Captain, they would never really know, but it was another drop in a line of falling dominoes.

At his daughter's wedding there was a part of him that had expected to pick up his boss, but Andy was pleasantly surprised to meet his friend instead. The laughing, smiling woman that had danced with him, charmed his daughter and other members of his family, and truth be told, himself as well. When he was really, truly honest with himself, that was already happening. Had been happening for a very long time. He should have known that she would see right through his pitiful excuse for asking her to the ballet. She nailed him on it while at dinner. Luckily for him she was understanding and concerned enough about what he'd been feeling leading up to asking her that she had waved that away. Then she had smiled and given him a do over, as she said her kids called it. As a man well versed in second chances and not blowing them, Flynn was smart enough to spill the entire pathetic tale.

He had never heard her laugh like that before. Andy honestly couldn't say that he had seen anything quite as amusing, or as enchanting, as Sharon with her head thrown back laughing at… well, him. He was already attracted to her, but that was the moment that did it. Now he was completely besotted. It was a lost cause, he was a complete goner. Provenza had already offered to put him out of his misery simply for acting like he had a crush on her. If he knew the truth, he might just do it. Now, as he and Sharon engaged in their staring contest, Andy wouldn't call it misery, not in the least.

It was his tone that did it, as much as the unwavering dark eyed gaze that wouldn't let her hide. As much as she said she wasn't, they both knew the truth of it. Sharon was the first to look away. Her eyes dropped to her desk, where she dropped her pen and clasped her hands together. She breathed slowly, pulling air into and out of her lungs.

"Emma Rios is a gnat," she stated finally. "I can handle her. Most of the time." Sharon picked at her nails and wouldn't look up again. She was not accustomed to feeling so out of herself, so completely uncertain. "But it is becoming harder and harder for me to ensure Rusty's safety. It is getting increasingly more difficult to protect him. As soon as Dr. Joe turns in his evaluation, and if it goes the way I think it did, Rusty is going to be back on the street actively looking for the person who has been threatening his life."

When she did look up, the pain in her green eyes almost took his breath away. Andy lowered himself into one of the chairs in front of her desk. "We'll keep an eye on him. You know that. The kid won't be out of our sight, not even for a second. Sharon, nothing is going to happen to Rusty."

"I know we'll try," She sighed softly and leaned back, shoulders slumping. "We will do everything that we can, but I also know that isn't always enough. Still," Sharon paused for a moment. "That isn't the sort of protection I was talking about. Emma is an annoyance, but as much as I hate to admit it, as long as he is a material witness, Rusty's placement with me is tenuous. Emma likes to dangle his continued presence in my home like a carrot. Then there is our very own Assistant Chief Taylor, who now has ammunition to use when it suits his purpose to do so. They both forget that he's just a child. He's just a boy who has never had a moment of stability in his life, and now that he could almost reach out and grasp it… they're going to use him against me to get what they want from me." She reached back, rubbing her neck, and drew her hair around over her right shoulder. "There are days I feel like everyone would have been better served if I had just stayed in Internal Affairs."

"I don't think so." He smiled at her, but ached at how defeated she looked at the moment. "Without you here, Rusty would be in another group home, or worse. Not to mention what would have happened to the rest of us. We need you here, Sharon."

"Hm." It drew a smile from her. She let her head rest against the back of her chair. "I never thought I'd hear that, and not from you of all people." Sharon shook her head. "You've had more reason than any of them to despise me. That makes it all seem a little bit… odd, doesn't it?"

He inclined his head, lips pursing slightly. "Maybe." Andy leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "Or maybe it just means I'm smart enough to know the advantages that come with being teacher's pet." His dark eyes sparkled at her, and he grinned crookedly. "Come on, you've been riding my ass for years, if we can get beyond that… the rest is easy."

Sharon laughed, it was a low, throaty chuckle. "Does that mean you've forgiven me?"

"For turning my cases over to that punk brat when you found out I was doodling during my fourth go 'round in Anger Management? Hell no." Andy's grin widened. "That you have to make up to me personally."

"Oh. Is that right?" Her clasped hands rested against her stomach. Sharon shook her head at him. "I spoke to Gavin about… protecting Rusty," she stated, growing serious again. "My only real option is to put forth a movement to have his mother's parental rights terminated and then to legally adopt him myself. An action that I do not see Rusty agreeing to. It's been a year, but to Rusty, his mother is still this mythical thing that could miraculously return. At the same time, before I can even think about adopting Rusty, there are some other… issues.. that I need to work out."

"Jack." Andy understood the unspoken loose end.

"Jack." Sharon acknowledged with a sigh. "For twenty years I've been telling people that it was all just so very Catholic," her lip curled slightly. "The truth is that while that is a part of it, there was also the fact of the kids trust funds. The trusts were created when they were born and matured upon their twenty-first birthdays. First Ricky, then Katie. If he wants half my pension and the rest, he can have it, although Gavin has always stated that I had excellent grounds for avoiding that. I don't care. That's never bothered me, but the kids funds… Jack has taken so much away from them already, I won't let him have those too. So I waited for them to mature. They did." Sharon shrugged at him. "I signed the divorce papers that Gavin has been trying to shove under my nose for almost as long as I've known him. I suppose… twenty years of separation or not, it's never easy to admit to failure."

"I can't say that I agree with that." Andy tilted his head at her. "Twenty years, Sharon. Chance after chance. I think you did your best. There's nothing you can do about making Jack meet you halfway. You tried, he didn't."

"I know. I think I just needed to wallow a little bit. It isn't the marriage, it's the idea of it. It has been my safety net for a very long time. I could avoid any serious, personal entanglements just by reminding myself and anyone else that I was a married woman. Almost all of my adult life there has been this… this thing that was hanging over my head, shielding me as much as it was holding me back. Now it isn't going to be there anymore, and while I know that's for the best… there are going to be some things that are going to become a lot more complicated."

"Complicated," he echoed. His brows drew together while he studied her. An introspective Sharon was a sight to behold. Her statement still had his brows lifting in interest. "For instance?"

"Andy." She smiled at him, voice softer. "I think you know full well for instance." They were dancing along a very fine line and they knew it.

"Hm." It was his turn to hum. He stood up and walked around the desk, aware that her gaze was tracking him. She didn't move, even when he turned her chair away from the desk to face him and leaned over it, his hands braced on the arm rests. "That might be something we need to actually discuss at some point. If you aren't good with complicated, it might be time to make things a lot more uncomplicated."

Her brow arched. There was a smile trying to curve it's way across her face. She tried to hold it back, but to no avail. "I see," she said quietly. "And if I happen to like complicated?"

"Well, I always said you were trouble," he smiled down at her.

"Me?" Her brows climbed toward her hair line, but her eyes were alight with amusement and silent laughter. "I seem to recall a certain nickname, what was that… hmm… let me see if I remember." Sharon tapped her finger tips together and tilted her head. "Oh yes, I've got it now… Rulebook Raydor?" She reached out and tugged lightly on his tie. "That was one of yours I believe. One among several now that I think about it. Don't think I don't know the witch was all you."

Andy groaned. "You would remember that now? That isn't the trouble I was talking about and you know it." Here was yet another side of her. She could be vulnerable, although she was loathe to admit it, but she could also be playful. A tease.

"Do I?" Green eyes sparkled up at him through thick lashes. "I'm quite sure I have no idea what you're talking about Lieutenant Flynn."

His hands gripped the arms of the chair harder, and he leaned even closer. "Let's try and jog your memory, shall we? Fact number one, Nicole's wedding. You wore the red dress and took that little wrap thing, instead of one of the jackets you normally wear. We'll come back to the heels. Number two, you can't seem to keep your hands to yourself anymore, not that I'm complaining, but I don't see Julio getting the same pat on the back for a job well done. Good thing too, I'm not sure he could handle it. Number three, the ballet." Andy arched a brow at her. "Do I need to say more about that? There was that dress, and can I just say you look really good in blue too, but I seem to remember a little event which took place at my car when I dropped you off…"

Her cheeks were flushing a light shade of pink. "I don't seem to remember you complaining during any of those three examples, quite the contrary in fact. I seem to remember a little something that happened at my door after you walked me up." Sharon grinned at him. "I am not the only one who is trouble."

"Oh, I excel at trouble, Captain. I could teach you a thing or two, I'm sure."

"Of that I have no doubt," she said, laughing quietly. There was a fondness in her gaze. "We are going to have to discuss this at some point, you are right about that. Unfortunately, right now I need to text Rusty and let him know that it is okay to return. Then he and I need to have a conversation in which I pretend to admonish him for his outburst while secretly encouraging his ability to speak up and protect himself. After that, there is a mound of paperwork that I am going to have to make a dent in, particularly the piles that are generated by one of my Lieutenants and his uncanny ability to tick off other divisions. Then I'm going to have to take Rusty home and clue him in on Gavin's visit and all of the reasons behind it. It's time Rusty was let in on some of the family issues if he's going to make an informed decision about whether or not to officially join it." Her shoulders slumped and she gave him a small, sad smile. "I do want to talk to you, I don't want you to take my silence as any indication that I don't… fully appreciate complicated. I do, quite a bit. I'm just not sure in all of this when I'm going to-"

"Sharon." Andy cut her off with a shake of his head. He took her hand and knelt in front of her. His knees hated it, but he managed not to grimace and ruin the gesture. "I'm not going anywhere. Not until you want me to. At dinner we said we'd be honest yeah? Well, honestly, I've got nothin' but time, babe. We aren't kids anymore, we don't need all the drama. You'll get it worked out and I'll be around. If you need me, you'll let me know. Until then…" His gaze went to her legs and wagged his brows at her. "I'm going to keep enjoying those heels."

It earned him the response he'd wanted. It got another laugh out of her. She grasped his face and leaned forward, kissing him quickly. "You know, you might just be too good to me."

"And here I was trying to figure out how I got so lucky." He took her hand and pressed his lips to her palm before he stood up and stepped away, lest they cross that line into the sort of trouble they'd both like to avoid.

She turned her chair back to the desk and lifted her pen again. "I wouldn't call it luck, Andy." Sharon glanced up at him again, but only for a moment. She forced her gaze back to her paperwork. "It is most definitely not luck."

"Good to know." He pulled open the door, but drew back. Rusty stood there, poised to knock. "Hey kid. She's all yours." Andy stepped out of the way to let him into the office, and pulled the door closed behind him.

Rusty trudged over and dropped into the chair recently vacated by Andy. "Alright." He threw up his hands and let them drop again. "Let me have it."

"Hmm." Sharon continued to work. "I'm not entirely sure what it is you're expecting me to let you have." She spared him only a momentary glance. "If you're referring to the discussion we need to have about civility, yet again, or that you should watch your tone with adults…" She shrugged. "Well, you obviously already know what I'm going to say, so why should I bother saying it?"

"I'm sorry, Sharon. She just… she really makes me crazy." He sighed. "I wasn't even doing anything. We were just talking. Everyone was just hanging out, and Gavin was telling stories, and we were laughing. I like his stories. Who knew that you used to be so… so…" At her look he cut that thought short and shrugged. "Everyone was just having fun. I don't even understand why she freaked out the way she did, except the fact that she is a complete spaz."

"Be that as it may, Rusty, Emma is still an adult." Sharon put the pen down and gave him her full attention. "She is still due the same level of civility that you would give any adult, within reason and due course, and while I understand that you were provoked, our situation is a bit shaky at the moment. We need to watch our step."

Rusty bit his lip. "You mean she could still make it so I had to leave." He shifted in his seat and looked away, blinking rapidly.

"She could, if she tried hard enough," Sharon said quietly. "I'm not sure how many more aces I have up my sleeve. There might come a day when there's nothing left that I can do to keep you where you are."

"I know." He had come to understand that a lot of people would have let him go by now, they would have given him up or sent him away, just to avoid all the trouble that came with keeping him in their home. "Sharon… should I… I mean, do you want me to apologize to Emma? Would that help?"

"Absolutely not." She shook her head. "Rusty… while I will caution you on your methods, I will never ask you to apologize for defending yourself. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Yes. I understand."

"Good." She shifted in her seat, crossing her legs beneath her desk. "Now, while there are still things we need to talk about, this isn't the place for those discussions. I have a lot of work to do, and I think we both deserve to get out of here at a decent hour for once. So, I am going to work, and I want you to go and… bug the crap out of Provenza. He isn't working, therefore feel free to amuse yourself. Or you can do homework."

"I think homework might be safer," he muttered. Rusty stood up and moved toward the door. "Sharon, those things… does it have anything to do with why Gavin was really here today?"

"They do," She said. "But I don't want you to worry about them. I don't think it's anything that either of us should worry about right now. We'll decide that when we talk about it. Okay?"

"Okay." Sharon was always honest with him. Even when he didn't want her to be, or if it was hard or hurt, she didn't lie to him. She was probably the first person he could ever say that about. It was what made Doctor Joe's question so hard to answer. It was why he was still struggling with it, and maybe it was time to discuss it with Sharon. That would come later too.

Rusty let himself out of the office, and Sharon watched. She smiled when she heard his voice ringing through the murder room. "Lieutenant Provenza, I have a question…"


	2. Chapter 2

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 2

It was later in the evening, after dinner was consumed and the kitchen cleaned before the events of earlier in the day and the conversation in Sharon's office was broached again. Rusty watched Sharon pull a pillow into her lap where she curled on the sofa before lifting her tea cup again. He chose the arm chair and folded his hands in his lap. "Okay, you're freaking me out a little bit. You're not usually so…" He waved a hand at her. "That."

She offered a quiet chuckle. "Yes, how eloquent. Well, I am sorry if I am freaking you out. I don't mean to. It has been a long day and we still have some things to discuss. You're not always known for being so… receptive."

"Fair enough." Rusty drew his legs into the chair and wriggled around until he got comfortable. "Okay, this is me, being receptive. Let's have it."

Her eyes narrowed. "Alright then. But this is not going to necessarily be a nice topic, and parts of it are certainly not going to be easy for me. I expect you to be respectful and to listen to what I have to say." She pointed a finger at him. "I don't want any outbursts, remember that I am always looking out for what is best for you. Agreed?"

A heavy, nervous feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. "Agreed." She had said earlier that this wouldn't mean he had to leave her, but her opening volley felt a little ominous. He shifted nervously in his seat. "I know that you've gone to a lot of trouble to take care of me, Sharon, and I know that I haven't always made it easy. But I always appreciate it. Even when I don't act like it, or say it."

"Oh Rusty, I know that. That isn't even an issue." She smiled gently at him. "Honey, you're a teenage boy. Your mouth opens and words come out, they aren't always very pleasant. My job is to teach you when and where, and how to appropriately use those words and which words they should be. Rusty, you aren't always supposed to like what I say and do. It's part of the learning process. It's how we get to know each other, and how we learn what our place is in the world and how to deal with people. You're doing fine, and believe me, you have come a long way."

"Yeah?" He picked at the seam of his jeans. "Do you really think so?"

"I know so." She cradled her cup in her hands. "I have been really proud of the way you've grown these last couple of years. But you're going to make mistakes, I expect you to do it, it's how we learn. I'm going to continue to make my fair share of them too. We just hope that as we get older they become fewer and farther between. It's normal."

"You don't actually make a lot of mistakes," he said, giving her a slightly incredulous look. He supposed that came from being so crazy about rules and how they worked.

"Oh," she laughed. "I make my fair share of them. Believe me." She shifted where she sat and faced him more fully, sitting back in the corner of the sofa. "So here it is. The reason I had to see Gavin today. Although not for the reasons Emma jumped to, but it was about you. As we move closer and closer to the trial, and while these threats are looming over our heads, things are going to become increasingly more volatile. It's going to become harder for me to protect you, Rusty, and that is something that I very much want to continue being able to do." It was always more difficult to put into words what she was feeling, but she chose them carefully. "I'm not your mother. On that I think we are more than agreed, and as I've said before, I wouldn't expect or ask for you to stop thinking about her, or wanting to help her, or even to see her again. What I am most concerned with here is that your placement with me hinges on the mood of an irritating little…" Sharon stopped herself and shook her head. "If the DA's office begins to feel that your testimony is being threatened, they can move to have you shipped out of here to another location and there are certain members of the LAPD that will support that decision. Not as a reflection of anything that you've done, Rusty, it's simply the way that it is. Do you understand?"

"Emma has wanted me out of here since the day we met her," he looked rather grim about it. "The threats give her ammunition. You know, I wasn't kidding. I feel like that stupid trial is never going to get here and the entire rest of my life is going to be all about making sure it goes the way that it's supposed to. And it's so stupid Sharon. I didn't do anything wrong and I feel like I'm as much in jail as that jerk."

"I know," she shook her head, a sad smile tugged at her lips. "I wish I could change that, but I can't. What I might be able to do is offer a little bit of stability where it feels like there isn't any." Sharon leaned forward and watched him closely. "To do that, I might have to do something you won't necessarily agree with or even like. I've given it some thought, and Gavin agrees, that the best way for me to be able to protect you is for him to file a motion that would have your mother's parental rights terminated on grounds of abandonment and child endangerment. At that point I would then be able to legally adopt you and once final, Emma could huff and puff all she wanted, but she wouldn't get very far. Wait, don't say anything yet." Sharon held up a hand when she saw him gearing up to respond. "Now, regardless of whether or not you choose to agree and that happens - and yes, Rusty, I am going to give you the option. But regardless of all of that, some things would never change. You would still have a home here as long as you liked, and for as long as I was able to provide one. I would still assist you in the choosing of and funding of a college education, and you would still be very important to me. That doesn't go away if you say no. It ties my hands a little, but we find a way."

Rusty stared at her, eyes wide and uncertain. He gripped the arms of his chair and shifted a couple of times. His legs unfolded and then curled again. He wasn't sure if he wanted to run or dance around the room. It was completely unexpected, and yet, Doctor Joe's parting question still rang in his head. "You want to adopt me?"

"Yes." She said it simply. She could tell him that the likelihood of his mother returning was very small, but saw no reason in pouring salt in a wound that was still quite open. She could explain to him that even if his mother did return the chances of his being placed back with her were also very small, but Sharon didn't have the heart to dash that dream either. She couldn't hurt him, even if they were hard, cold facts, she simply couldn't allow herself to be the one to slap him in the face with those impossibly painful truths.

He continued to stare at her, almost seeming a little bit horrified. "That… that really isn't what I thought you were going to say." And maybe he was horrified at his own negative thoughts and his tendency to automatically look for the worst possible scenario. "But… but then I wouldn't just be part yours, then I would be all yours and…"

"On paper," Sharon stated, hoping to reassure him. "It would be a piece of paper which stated that legally you are my son and it would prevent your being removed from my care. That's all, Rusty, just a piece of paper. Nothing else would change. I already told you how I feel. Well, okay, you would also be inheriting the rest of this insane family, but nothing else would change. If your mother came back, I would still do whatever I could to help you help her."

He rubbed his forehead. A piece of paper. A piece of paper that would mean he didn't ever have to leave. He thought again about what Doctor Joe had asked him. Maybe it was time to bring that up. Rusty chewed on his lip for a moment. "The last time I saw Doctor Joe, right before he left, he asked me something. He wanted to know if… if my mother came back would I go with her or would I stay here, with you." He pushed his hair off his forehead and sighed. "I used to think, when I first came here, I used to think that when my mom came back, I'd go with her and everything would be the way that it was again. Then I started thinking that maybe the way it used to be wasn't the way it should be. Then she was supposed to come here and didn't, and… she knew that I was here. She knew that I was waiting and she couldn't get on the bus. That just made me think about how horrible it was that she left in the first place. Then I started thinking about all the things that I have now that I didn't have then. I had friends, and I was going to a good school, and a good place to live, and I thought about that argument we had… when I first came here. I said that… I said that you weren't my mother and you said no. You said no you weren't, because you were here. When he asked me that… I told him that I didn't know. I wasn't sure anymore. I haven't been for a long time. She isn't here because she doesn't want to be. No one made her leave. I've been thinking about it a lot. You fight with your boss to keep me, and my mom got so high she would forget who I was. That has to mean something, right?"

"Yes," she could barely push the words out past the aching lump in her throat. "Yes, Rusty, I think it does." Sharon blinked away the moisture in her eyes and looked down, into her tea cup. "I won't make the decision for you. But there are other things you need to know first. If you choose to go this route, it isn't going to be immediate. Before I can adopt you I have to straighten out some loose ends of my own. First and foremost on that list being a long overdue divorce. Which I have already put into play. During the course of that you may overhear or learn somethings which aren't altogether pleasant. I just ask that you remember that the past is the past and it has no bearing on you at all."

Rusty frowned at that. "I thought you were all… you know, Catholic and it was all complicated and difficult."

"It is, all of those things," she stated. "It wasn't an easy decision to make, and it's one that I have been going back and forth on for a very long time. If anything Jack's visit this past summer opened my eyes to the fact that he is never going to change, he isn't interested in trying to change, and if allowed he will continue to make the same mistakes again and again without bothering to learn from them. I'm doing this for myself and my children as much as anything."

"I'm sorry," he said. Rusty knew that Sharon had been different for a while after Jack had come and gone. He hadn't touched on the subject with her, she had made it very clear early on that her personal life was none of his business. She didn't even share much of it with her own kids. That was due in large part to the fact that they were not present to be part of her everyday personal life, but as he and Sharon got to know each other better, and had come to trust one another, she had started to share some things with him.

"I know." She smiled, and then she shrugged. "It is what it is, but I don't want you to worry about it. This was something that was broken long before you came along. To tell you the truth, I should have taken care of it a while ago. When I spoke to Katherine and Ricky about it, their responses were simply that it was about time. So whether you agree to the adoption or not, that part of my life is over and it's time it was behind me."

Rusty managed a small smile. "That sounds like Katie." Ricky worked long hours and had not been home to see his mother since Rusty had come to live with her, and while Katie had not been home yet either, Rusty had spoken to her on the phone a few times. When unable to reach her mother on her cell, she had called the landline. Before he knew it she had managed to finagle his cell number and email address out of him and was contacting him regularly. Rusty decided she was a lot like her mother, and even sounded like her on the phone sometimes. "Did you tell them about…" Rusty waved a hand between them.

"The adoption?" Sharon shook her head and took a sip of her tea. "No, I haven't spoken to them about it. I'm sure it won't come as a surprise, but it was something that I really wanted to discuss with you first. They both want to meet you, particularly Katie, but they're both very busy too and…" She hadn't wanted them in LA as long as the threats were hanging over their heads. It was hard enough protecting Rusty, she didn't want to give their letter writer two more targets.

"Yeah." Rusty understood. He knew that she had specifically asked them to not come to LA for Christmas. Both of her kids were expected to be in Utah with their grandparents this year, and unfortunately with Sharon's current schedule plus the need for his police escort, they simply couldn't join them. That was part of the reason why there were other plans afoot. Plans that Sharon had no idea about and would probably not like at first, but she had a habit of taking care of everyone except herself. "Do I have to um…" Rusty gestured with his hands. "Do I have to decide now? Can I uh… Can I think about it?"

"Of course, Rusty." That he was even willing to think about it was a very good sign. The Rusty of even a year ago would have screamed at her and run from the room. "I don't need an answer tonight. As I said, there's time."

He nodded quietly and pushed himself up, out of the chair. Rusty walked toward his room but stopped when he reached the hall. "Sharon." He turned back. "I…" He shook his head. "Good night."

"Good night, Rusty." She smiled knowing that whatever he had been about to say he would eventually find the words to get it out. She watched him retreat down the hall and listened for the soft click of his door closing before she let her head fall back against the sofa. It had certainly gone better than she had imagined it would. Sharon closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. She sat there for several long moments, just allowing the quiet to calm her frazzled nerves. It was the sound of her phone buzzing against the end table which drew her attention. With a sigh Sharon swiveled around on the sofa and exchanged her tea cup for it.

The text made her smile again. This one softer than before. It was Flynn, checking on her as he'd said he would. With the simple _Ok?_ she could imagine the lift of his brows, the soft light in his dark eyes. It was going to be complicated indeed, and quite unexpected, but not altogether unwanted. Sharon's lips pursed while she continued to gaze at the message on her phone. The last few years had brought a number of unexpected twists and turns in the Captain's life. Between finding herself raising yet another teenager and this… whatever it was… with Flynn, Sharon wasn't sure which was the last she had ever imagined.

Sharon shook her head and keyed out a quick response. _Better than. He's thinking about it. _

_Good. He's damn lucky. I hope he knows that. _

_He does. He's still not used to having good things happen to him. There is a part of him that is still stuck at the zoo waiting._

_Hell of a thing, the way we can screw up our kids. _

_You changed. You tried. You keep trying, that sets you apart Andy. It makes you a thousand times better than a lot of people I could name. One in particular. _

_Yeah. I'm starting to believe that. You helped. _

"Andy." Sharon sighed quietly. He didn't know just how great it was that he worked so hard to reconnect with his family, with his own kids. He worked at it, every day, not only when they were watching or when the mood struck. Sharon's fingers moved quickly across the screen of her iPhone. She called him, deciding he would get the point better if she pounded it into his head another way.

"You know, this was not supposed to be about me," he stated upon answering.

She smiled, the slightly gruff edge to that voice always gave her a little thrill. "All I did was dance at a wedding and suggest a couple of dance studios. You did all the heavy lifting. Stop trying to diminish that. I see it. Nicole see's it. One day your son will see it too. If he's anything like you, he just needs to think it over and brood it out a bit."

"You are bossy, you know that?" Andy sighed quietly. "I get it, Sharon. Or I'm starting to. Some things are hard to fix, but I think maybe it's turned the corner."

"I'm sure that it has." She wriggled back down on the sofa and hugged her pillow again with her free arm. "I won't attempt to diminish your history or their feelings on it, but I can say I've seen that side of it, Andy. They're having to learn to trust you again, and that's hard, and it takes a long time. Especially when there is an obstacle like your ex-wife. I know that just making the effort is more important to them than you will ever know. Mine have long since come to the realization that Jack only tries when I force him to, and that's usually in response to something that he wants from me. Ricky will be polite and speak to his father because he knows that I expect it of him, because he knows that I raised him to show civility and respect even in the face of extreme disappointment and anger. Katie tries but she's too much like me, I think. He's hurt her once too often and she's closed herself off to him. She dances under my maiden name because she won't allow him to have any part of her success. It's something that she accomplished in spite of him, not because of him." Sharon smiled, his words from a few months ago came back to her. "Andy, ya did good."

He laughed. "Sharon Raydor following in my footsteps, who would have ever thought that."

That drew a giggle out of her. "No one will ever believe you."

"That's true, maybe I will just keep that one to myself." He was silent for a moment. Andy knew what he wanted to say, but it was difficult to get the words out. Finally he shook his head. He fiddled with the remote in his hand, he had muted the sports highlights he was watching when she called. "He's an idiot, Sharon. The biggest, worst kind of idiot."

"I won't disagree with that," she said quietly. "It's still… I don't know, it is what it is, I suppose. I've said that more than once today, I think."

"Well, he let you get away, that makes him doubly idiotic if you ask me," he gruffed it out and held his breath for a moment.

Sharon was left a little speechless by that. "I…" She bit the corner of her lip. And here they were again. "You know, we're back to complicated, but thank you, Andy."

"Yeah. You're not up to talking about that tonight. So we'll just leave it at that."

"Hm." She gave him a low hum. "You might be right about that. It's not a conversation I intend to have on the phone either. But I think it had best be soon."

"Before you kill me with those damned skirts or my partner shoots us both," he drawled out. "I'm going to start thinking he's jealous if he doesn't cut it out. Maybe he has a crush on you himself. Those are some pretty powerful heels."

Sharon snorted a loud laugh and clapped a hand over her mouth lest she draw Rusty's attention. "You've bumped your head," she laughed. "I think the problem is simply that he's been around the block enough times to understand just how close to the flames we're dancing with this… complicated fire we're toying with. I mean, he is old enough to have seen this sort of thing blow up enough times. Otherwise we barely tolerate each other, your partner and I."

"Nah," Andy grinned. "He likes you. He'd just refuse to ever admit it. You grew on him. It's a sort of habit you have. I, for one, will not complain about it. But you've got a point. Hell, we're not kids. That's a conversation I need to have with him. I've been avoiding that. Or not really avoiding, more just… waiting. More than likely that's part of the problem. I haven't told him what's going on. He'll get over it. I'll talk to him. You know… soon."

"Yes." Sharon tucked her feet between the cushions of the sofa. "That seems to be the theme currently."

"Sharon. It's late. Shut it down for the night. Go to bed."

"I think I'm going to take you up on that." She unfolded herself from the sofa and lifted her tea cup. "Andy, thank you for checking on me."

"It's a hard job, but someone has to do it. Good night, Sharon."

"Good night." She ended the call and took his advice, shutting everything down for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 3

Two days had passed since thoughts of adoption had been planted in Rusty's head. So far he had made no mention of it, but Sharon was aware that he had made two phone calls, possibly to Doctor Joe - at least she hoped so. She wasn't going to intrude on his thought process. He was giving it thought, that was enough for her, for now at least. There was still plenty of time for him to work it out. Sharon intended to give him enough space to do so. The only prodding that she had done was toward Buzz and Lieutenant Provenza, suggesting that Rusty might enjoy spending time with someone other than her and his police escort. The former had grumbled, as was his habit, and commented that he'd want to spend time with someone else too, but had announced the next day that he was taking Rusty out for burgers and a movie and she would just have to cancel whatever else she had planned.

Sharon had put on a good show, feigning the expected amount of annoyance and reluctantly agreeing that it was probably better that Rusty spend the evening with the old Lieutenant. As she left the murder room, she heard Sanchez snickering. "Sir, you got played."

All of which had taken place prior to Andy arriving for the day. His morning had been filled with errands, and a last minute bit of Christmas shopping. When he arrived Sanchez and Sykes were all too willing to fill him in on the morning's events. He chuckled while his partner glowered at his crossword, mumbling about Manipulative old witches. The familiar staccato of heels against tile drew his attention and he looked toward the sound.

Sharon strode toward them from the break room, a cup of tea in one hand, and reading something on her phone which was in the other. Andy had to grip the edge of his desk while his jaw clenched tightly shut. Either the dress was new or he was in more trouble than he ever imagined. Shorter than she usually wore, in that it didn't quite reach her knees. Cashmere if he had to guess, scoop neck with short, capped sleeves. Red. That deep shade of crimson that looked so good on her. His eyes tracked downward, along the visible length of leg to the tall, black heels she had paired with it and he almost groaned out loud.

"Gentlemen, Detective Sykes," she greeted as she walked past, glancing up only briefly. She smiled slightly, "Lieutenant Flynn, glad you could join us. You've all today to wrap up everything, no one leaves until the last report finds its way into my inbox." Major Crimes had accrued enough overtime with their last two cases that the previously cancelled Christmas vacation was back on. They would be shutting down at the end of the day Monday, December 23, and not returning until after the New Year. Barring, of course, any cases that the Chief felt couldn't be handled by Robbery Homicide. They had high hopes for the season. Taylor was out of town until at least the following weekend, and so that decision would be left up to the actual Chief, and not his erstwhile assistant.

"Any plans for the holiday, Captain?" Sykes leaned forward on her desk. Her smile only brightened when she heard Provenza's quiet huff. She truly enjoyed pushing his buttons, and his biggest button was her admiration of the Captain.

"Mm. Nothing specific," Sharon stated. She paused near the young detective's desk. "I promised Rusty that we wouldn't be on House arrest for the entire week. I don't know, we'll see. I'm sure I'll think of something." She turned and walked back to her office. Her phone had buzzed twice while she stood there, and she could feel the burn of Flynn's gaze. Sharon fought the smile as she stepped inside and secured the door. She reached up tugged on the blinds while she was at it. She sat her tea on the desk before swiping her thumb across her phone and opening the text.

_Wicked, wicked witch._

Laughter bubbled out of her. Sharon shook her head and sat down. Her lips pressed together while she keyed her response. _I'm sorry. Here I was thinking that with Rusty otherwise occupied later, we might discuss certain complicated topics._

_You are killing me._ He replied. Andy followed it quickly with a second text. _Dinner?_

Sharon sat back in her seat and considered her response. That was the response she wanted. She pursed her lips and exhaled slowly. She sent it before she could change her mind, and then put her phone away. _It's a date._

"Oh for the love of god." Provenza saw Flynn's smile and tossed his crossword and pencil down. He shook his finger at Flynn but couldn't seem to get the words out. His face turned red and finally he threw both hands up and got up to stalk away from them. He knew quite well that there was only one thing that would have Flynn grinning like that. In the very long time that he had known his partner he had seen Flynn do some pretty ridiculous things, but this was without a doubt the most absurd thing he'd ever seen him do. It was like watching a train wreck in motion. He wasn't going to be able to stop it, but he'd be cleaning up the mess when it was all said and done.

Flynn shrugged at the others when they looked at him. "Grumpy strikes again?" He stood up. "I'll deal with it." He followed him to the break room. He walked in and flipped the lock on the door, It would keep them from being interrupted at the very least. He walked over and leaned against one of the counters where he remained silent while watching his partner and best friend slam things around. A mug, a package of coffee. The creamer. Flynn scratched his forehead and clasped his hands in front of him. He crossed his ankles and waited.

Provenza knew that he was there. He ground his teeth together and poured water into the pot. Then he slapped the glass carafe beneath the brewer. He turned around, glared at his partner. "Have you completely lost your mind? What is this, some sort of third midlife crisis and you have to drag the rest of us along with you? For crying out loud, Flynn, she's the Captain!" He gestured wildly. "Do you have any idea how badly this could go for both of you? What it could do to this division if it got out? Or if it blew up in your faces? And mark my word, it will blow up at some point. These things do not stay hidden. They usually leak out right when you least expect it and usually at the absolute worst moment. Have you forgotten the headache we went through with Gabriel and Daniels?"

Andy snorted. "I'm insulted you'd compare this to that. Look, I get that it is completely unlike you to be even remotely optimistic, but could you consider, even for a second, that it might not blow up in anyone's face? Although for the record, it isn't really anything right now."

"I think the word that you're looking for is yet," Provenza pointed a finger at him. "It isn't anything yet. I see where it's headed, we all see where it's headed, Flynn. We aren't blind. If the two of you were any more obvious you'd be on a billboard. Okay, putting aside for the moment the fact that she is your boss," he stated. "Let's try something a little more serious. Let's remind ourselves that she is, in fact, married. Or had that slipped both your minds? And my god, what could you possibly be thinking? This is Raydor. The walking rule book. Hall monitor extraordinaire. Did it never occur to you that maybe, just maybe, with everything that she has going on right now, that this," he waved a hand at Flynn, "maybe it's the last thing she needs? That just for the sake of conversation, that if she is actually considering breaking several very important rules in the book, that just maybe she's lost her damned mind! She's been under a lot of stress. Perhaps it has gone to her head."

"Why do you care?" Flynn snarked. "Get Sharon out of the way and you're back in charge. That is what you want, isn't it?" He pushed away from the counter, eyes dark, and angry energy coursing through him. It was a strain to keep his voice down, but he fought the urge to yell. "I'd think you'd be dancing at the opportunity to get her out of your way." Andy towered over him, his finger jabbed the air between them. "You're right, the word on the table is yet. We haven't done anything, yet. If or when we do, it won't be any of your business. It won't be anyone's business, and I think we're both old enough, and mature enough, that we can keep our personal lives out of the murder room." He let it go, it was easier than he thought to push the anger aside. Flynn leaned back against the counter and shrugged. "And just so we can get it on the record, she's about two seconds away from being divorced. Gavin is taking care of it for her."

Provenza's eyes narrowed. "Alright, she's getting divorced. One less rule to break. That's just one. What do you think is going to happen when Taylor gets wind of this little… situation of yours. He'll bounce you both out of here so fast you won't have time to think about who your union rep is, much less give him a call. Open your eyes. This isn't one of your little flings that you can play around with for a couple of months until you move on to the next one."

"You're right." Andy shrugged. "It isn't. I'm a lot of things, dumb isn't one of them. I wouldn't risk my job, or hers, or Rusty's placement on a fling. Since we're putting it all out on the table, let's just add that to it also. That's what's got you all worked up. If Taylor gets wind of anything, she's gone, and so is Rusty. You don't want to see that happen, because as much as you will never willingly admit it, you give a damn about what happens to both of them. But since we're on the subject of Taylor let's just sweep all the bullshit aside for once. You think any of this, that Raydor was his idea? He wants everyone to believe that, and so far they're all willing to go with it, but come on, Louie. He's not that smart. Slimy, yes, and a bigger snake we'll probably never meet, but in no universe anywhere does Taylor put Sharon in a position to be able to nip at the heels of his job. She's the Pope's insurance policy, but it serves Taylor well for everyone to think that she's his idea. He won't get rid of her over something like this, especially since he went on record supporting Gabriel and Daniels, since you felt the need to bring them up. I think her job is pretty safe."

"Hers is." Provenza folded his arms over his chest. "You make a fine argument, you've obviously been thinking about it for a while. You failed to point out one thing. Hers is safe, what about you? Let's say that Taylor can't touch her, that doesn't extend to you." His eyes narrowed. "Are you actually okay with that? Let's continue to pretend that you're not completely off your rocker, are you telling me that you're okay with losing your job for… what? For her?"

"Maybe." Flynn shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't really discussed it yet. I decided to classify that as a bridge I would cross when I got to it. I don't know what's going to happen, neither does she. And ya know, this is something I would have talked to you about when I knew I had something to talk about. So do me a favor, stop busting my ass, will you? We may not know exactly what we're doing but we know what we're not, and this is not exactly spur of the moment."

The older Lieutenant continued to glare for a moment, and then he looked utterly horrified. "You're actually serious about this one. You…" He pointed a finger at Flynn. "It's worse than I thought. You aren't chasing a skirt, you really like her. Oh my god!"

For his part, Flynn simply pursed his lips and tilted his head. "Well… yeah. That's the whole point. The weirdest part of it all is, she likes me too. Hell of a thing."

Provenza was nodding slowly. "That's what I thought. It's the stress. It got to her. A woman of her age, job like this, teenager at home. Nervous break down like that, it happens to the best of us."

Flynn rolled his eyes. "Nice. That's great. I'll remember that one, partner." He pushed away from the counter and walked over to pour himself a cup of coffee. "It's so good to know that when it comes down to it I can always count on you. Really, it is."

The old man huffed a sigh. "Oh alright. It's completely unnatural. I'm never going to understand it, and I still say it's a nightmare just waiting to happen… but… oh whatever. Just don't screw it up." He waved Flynn off and moved to fill his own cup.

"That is the one thing that I have no intention of ever doing, believe me. Not that she'd let me. I mean, come on…" He stopped at the door and unlocked it. He tossed a crooked grin back over his shoulder. "Have you met her? The lady won't tolerate me being an idiot."

Provenza snorted. Once he was alone again, he shook his head. "Therein lies the problem." It was trouble, the entire situation. Whether Flynn wanted to see it or not, the crash was looming ahead of them. "Damned fools," he muttered. He stirred creamer into his cup and let the spoon clatter against the counter. He would have to keep an eye on them. Make sure they didn't bite themselves in the ass, or the rest of the squad. If they were lucky he might just be able to head the coming disaster off at the pass. But optimism wasn't in his nature.


	4. Chapter 4

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 4

Sharon Raydor left the station at exactly 6:01 pm. The other members of her squad were already gone, they'd finished their side of the paperwork before leaving for the much needed nine day vacation they'd been given. Rusty was gone with Provenza, his police escort tagging along behind. She was assured that there would be dinner, a movie, and that he would be home no later than midnight. Given the way he had glared at her, then at Flynn, she had a fairly good idea of why he was extending the evening.

Andy had sent her a text after he left, he'd pick her up at seven and asked that she wear something comfortable, casual, and bring a jacket. After finishing her work that had given her just enough time to get home, freshen up, and change her clothes. The knock at her door came as she was pulling an old, brown leather jacket out of her closet. Butterflies danced in her stomach as she walked toward the door. Whatever happened tonight would define the course of the remainder of their association. Whether or not they'd just remain friends or if this… unnamed thing between them would make the turn toward something more. It had been too long since she felt the thrill of that sort of anticipation. She drew a thin, slightly shaking breath as she opened the door.

Andy stood there, his dark leather jacket over a green button down and a pair of jeans. He stared at her. He told her comfortable because where he was taking her, the dress would have been much. Also, because he wanted to be able to use a clear head. He wouldn't be able to keep one as long as she was wearing that, or something similar. It was completely foolish of him to think she wouldn't look just as stunning in anything else. Andy blinked several times. She was wearing a simple, cream colored, cowl neck sweater that hugged every curve exactly the way it was meant to, and a pair of blue jeans and brown riding boots. They looked as though she'd been painted into them and for just a moment his heart stopped beating.

Sharon pressed her lips together. His response sent little sparks of excitement right down her spine to to settle in the pit of her stomach. Her lips curved into a smile. "Andy." She reached for her purse and her keys and stepped out of the Condo after assuring herself that her phone was inside it. If she let him in, they might end up not going anywhere at all. While that thought was exciting enough on its own, they still and things to discuss.

It was enough to snap him out of it. His hand moved to the small of her back as they walked. "You look good," he said, quite unnecessarily, and they both knew it. He smiled at her answering grin and led her down to his car.

"Thank you." She gave him a sideways glance. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me, now, where it is that we're going?"

"Nope." He shook his head. "It ruins the surprise if I tell you. I need the element of surprise with you. You're too good."

She laughed, but leaned into his side when he took her hand as they left the building. Once they were in the car and headed away from the complex, Sharon turned slightly in her seat to watch him. "So, what happened in the break room this afternoon? Are you going to tell me?"

"How do you always find out these things?" Andy shook his head. "I swear, lady, you've got eyes everywhere. We can get you out of IA but you're still tainted by the dark side of the force."

"Hm." She shrugged at him, amusement lighting her eyes. "Okay, I'll share one of my dark, wicked little trade secrets with you. But you aren't to ever tell another living soul. Agreed?"

Andy's brow lifted. He glanced at her, a grin playing at his lips. "Okay, this I can't wait to hear. You've got me word. Another living soul will never hear it from me."

"I'm going to hold you to that." Sharon reached up and pulled her hair over her right shoulder. "How do you think I always knew when _you _were naughty? I listen to the gossip. Every station is always full of it. If you're used to being ignored, which I am, you can move around stay pretty unnoticed. You hear things."

"Sharon." He shook his head. "I can't imagine you ever going unnoticed." They had stopped at a light. His look was long, but full of meaning.

Her cheeks colored. Sharon looked away, not in the least uncomfortable with him, but no longer accustomed to that sort of attention. "Yes, well, you might be alone in that summation. Also…" She flashed a grin. "Amy Sykes has a very big mouth."

"Big mouth, bad timing, and usually pretty clueless." Flynn sighed. "If she wasn't capable of learning and a halfway decent kid, I'd tell you to get rid of her."

"The same thoughts had occurred, but she came to us highly recommended, and as you said, she's capable of learning. Which she has. She's not quit the… how does Rusty put it… ah, she's not quite the _spaz _that she was when she joined us."

"How is that going by the way?" He glanced at her again. "Rusty, I mean."

"He's thinking about it," Sharon sighed. "It isn't easy for him. I knew it wouldn't be. The waiting isn't easy for me, but he is thinking about it, and I won't complain about that. I think he'll talk to Lieutenant Provenza about it tonight, he's a good sounding board for Rusty. He'll be objective about it. I can't… I can't be objective anymore. Which is fine, I sacrificed my objectivity where Rusty is concerned to be what he needs, and I won't regret that. He knows that. So, he has Provenza."

"He's good with kids," Andy stated. "He'll complain about it, make it as loud as he can, but he's good with them. Always was. With his own kids, the grandkids, don't let him fool you. He does alright." His lips pursed. "Don't tell him I told you that."

"Oh no, that's not a place I am ever going." Sharon laughed. "That little reveal is perfectly safe with me, have no fear." She looked around when he pulled the car into a small parking lot. "Okay, I'm all for surprises, but where are we?"

"Nah, this isn't the surprise. This is just a little hole in the wall place that Sanchez turned me onto some years back. It's all great. I promised you dinner, and then you get the surprise." Andy parked the car and once out of it, he came around to open her door. "Stop wheedling." He held out a hand, but didn't let go once she was on her feet.

It was small, but not overly crowded. It was still a Monday night, and this close to Christmas a lot of people were busy with travel plans, last minute shopping, or any number of activities the city was home to during the holiday season. She had to admit, the aromas wafting through the door when they reached it were fairly delectable.

They were seated a few minutes later in a small booth in a dimly lit corner. Their conversation lulled while they studied their menus, but once their orders were given, and their drinks arrived, Sharon found her hand in his again. "Now who can't keep their hands to themselves," she teased.

"Do you mind?" He tilted his head at her, watching the play of the dim lighting bring out the gold flecks in her green eyes.

"No." She leaned forward against the table and turned her tea glass with her other hand. "But I think we've reached that moment when _soon_ is _now_."

"Hm." He hummed. He was playing with her fingers. Such small, delicate hands. "Yes, I think you're right." His thumb traced the length of her index finger. "We've been calling it complicated, but I'm not convinced that it has to be. If we follow one pretty simple rule, it doesn't have to be complicated at all. You're pretty good at keeping your work life and your personal life separate, Rusty excluded, maybe you can teach me. We keep it out of the office, and let the rest be what it is."

"You make it sound simple, but in practice it's anything but." Sharon met his gaze. Little slivers of warmth were traveling from her hand, along her arm. If he was getting his back for her attire driving him crazy the last few weeks, it was succeeding. "I was only ever successful at keeping the two separate because they were. I didn't take work home, and I didn't bring home to work. That isn't the case anymore. We don't always agree, Andy, not professionally. If we take that out of the murder room, it's where we have the potential for disaster. Worse still, if we bring personal disagreements into an investigation." Sharon shifted in her seat, but didn't remove her hand from his grasp. "The rules concerning this sort of fraternization," she smiled at his reaction to the word _rules_ coming out of her mouth, "are murky at best. It's frowned upon, but is not strictly prohibited. The only clearly defined section of that particular rule is that - number 271 in the manual in case you wanted to check - is that I have to report this to my immediate superior." Her nose wrinkled. "Which is… unfortunately Assistant Chief Taylor."

"No. Really?" Andy inclined his head. "You actually looked it up? As in, went to the manual and actually found it?" He laughed. "I am not surprised, but you are really something. No, don't do that," he leaned forward when he could see that she was blushing. "It's not a bad thing. It's who you are, I've come to appreciate that about you."

She huffed a slightly playful sigh. "I didn't have to look it up." Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "I was PSB, Andy. I wrote half the damned thing myself. Could we focus?"

"I am focused." He had turned her hand over, his thumb swept across the inside of her wrist. He felt the shudder that went through her and smiled. "You wrote the rule book, but then we rescued you from the dark side and all was well in the world again. See, focused. I think I have a way around the part that's got you worried."

"How?" She lifted her glass and took a drink. The ice cold tea was only slightly a reprieve. Yes, he was certainly getting his revenge. She would consider her attire more carefully in the future. "If I don't tell Taylor, then he's got even more ammunition to use against me."

"Ah, but Taylor isn't your immediate supervisor right now, is he?" Andy watched the realization slowly spread across her face. "He's out of town until at least the weekend. You're used to reporting directly to the Chief, you did it in IA, so… Pope owes you. Seriously owes you for pulling all of our asses out of the bind it was in with that damned law suit. You did it for Chief Johnson, but we all benefited from it. Make your report to him. It barely scratches the surface of what he owes you, and you're covered. We behave ourselves, and if Taylor gets his boxers in a wad over it, well, he can kiss my—"

"Andy." She shook her head at him. "That's… actually pretty brilliant."

"You don't have to sound surprised." He smirked at her.

Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "Of course not. That's not what I… anyway," she waved it off. "It could work. Assuages my professional conscience at the very least." Her lips pursed. "Before I do that… do I have anything to report?"

"Hell." He shook his head at her. "Sharon, I've barely touched you and it's a damned good thing. When I start I won't be able to stop, but this…" He gestured between them with his free hand. "It isn't about that, at the very least it isn't _only_ about that. We're old enough by now that we aren't going to be ruled by our inability to keep our hands to ourselves. Which, granted, I'm finding harder and harder to do. This isn't a fling. I'm not just chasing some skirt, and… you've got some very nice skirts by the way. I'm… I want to see where this is going to go. It is certainly showing a lot of potential so far."

"It is," she agreed. "I…" They disconnected and leaned back when their meals arrived. Sharon took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her wrist was still tingling. It gave them both a moment to regroup, rethink, and settle themselves. She busied herself by situating her napkin in her lap. When she looked up again he was still looking at her. None of the heat had diminished from his gaze. It made it harder to breathe. "Andy…" It was comfortably cozy within the small restaurant, but still she shivered. "I wouldn't be risking all that I am for something that would turn out to be little more than a fling. I'm… just as vested in seeing where this goes as you are."

"Good answer." He smiled at her. "Eat," he said. "There's still the matter of that surprise." He lifted his fork and let his attention drift, at least superficially. She was an incredibly beautiful woman. He wanted her, that much he had made obvious. More than, if the little hitch in her breathing was any indication.

The remainder of their dinner conversation revolved around lighter topics, plans for the holiday and their kids. Andy was supposed to join Nicole and her family for dinner the following evening. It was their first Christmas together as a family, and he was giddy at having been invited. His ex-wife wasn't going to be there, she was making the drive north to Sacramento to see their son.

Sharon intended to speak to her kids while they were in Utah with her parents, at the timeshare, but beyond that she had little planned except baking and curling up with a movie or two. It was a tradition from when her children were very small. She had dinner planned for Christmas day, nothing extravagant, but she explained that Rusty had never really had much of a Christmas before and she didn't want to overwhelm him. The previous year the squad had ended up working through the holiday, and so Rusty had spent Christmas at the office, with all of them.

After the check was paid, Andy took Sharon's hand again as they left the restaurant. Outside, he led her back to the car, but instead of reaching down to open her door, Andy turned her into him and pressed her back against the side of the sedan. His hands went to her waist, beneath her jacket. He held her there, thumbs stroking her sides. She tipped her head back and smiled up at him, her hands gripped the edges of his leather jacket. Her breathing hitched when his hands slid down to her hips and splayed there. He pulled her closer and she hummed quietly. Sharon slipped a hand up to cup the back of his neck when his head dipped. For just a moment they hovered there, breaths mingled, gazes locked. It wasn't the first kiss, but there was no longer any doubt that it was what they both wanted. When it finally came, his lips were soft, and a low, deep moan was drawn from her. Or that might have been due in part to his finding the edge of her sweater and brushing his thumbs against the soft skin above the waist of her jeans.

Andy held her there, locked between the car and his body, hands holding her firmly against him while he slowly explored her lips, the curve of her jaw, and that long length of neck that was exposed each time she drew her hair over her shoulder. He slid a hand to the small of her back, supporting her when she trembled against him. He knew that feeling, it was burning right through him, his desire for her. His jaw clenched, he held it in check and turned his face into her hair. The soft sent of her shampoo filled his senses. It pulled a low, thick groan out of him.

Sharon's hands fisted in his jacket. Her face pressed into his shoulder. Her breath came in short, shallow puffs of warm air. His simple touch blazed right through her and left her wanting more. When she could lift her head again, she shook her hair back and found him in much the same state. It was heartening to know that, at this age, she had the same effect on him. She rocked up on the balls of her feet and pressed another kiss to his lips, this one quick, light. They stepped away from the car and he reached around her to open the door.

The car provided a much needed shield which allowed them both to regain their composure. Andy took his time rounding the vehicle to join her, and by the time he was seated and snapping his belt in place, his vision was no longer clouded by a thick haze of want. He started the car and pulled back into traffic. He was tempted, more than he almost wasn't able to control, to turn them back in the direction of her Condo. Her hand in his, again, and the thrill of anticipation that hung in the air between them stayed his impulse. He turned the car away from the city, however, and drove toward the beach.

"You still won't tell me where we're going?" Her voice was lower than before, it had a deeper, throatier quality that sent a thrill through him.

"You're not very good with surprises, are you?" Andy slanted a look at her and grinned. He watched her tuck her hair behind her ear and swept his thumb over the back of her hand.

"No," she drew the syllable out. "I'm really not." Sharon laughed quietly. "I thought we'd established a long time ago that I like to know everything."

"Ah." Andy continued to maneuver them through traffic with one hand. "I seem to recall that about you." His lips pursed. "You know, this is the first date. Tell me something I don't know about you."

"Hmm." She shifted in her seat, turning more toward him. "I'm not sure where to begin. There's plenty that you don't know." Her head inclined while she considered what to share. They'd discussed her kids, her marriage. "I met Jack at Berkeley. We got married right after graduation, the plan was for us to take turns, Jack would go to Law School, pass the Bar, get established, and then it would be my turn. I took a job as a paid intern with the force, PSB was just starting out. At the time, the LAPD was doing a push for recruits and joining would pay more than being an intern, so I joined up. I had Ricky while I was still in Patrol, Katie came along later while I was with Vice. By the time she was two, Jack was gone, and Internal Affairs was the only department with an opening. It worked. I knew a lot of them from my intern days."

"You always did sound a lot like a lawyer," Andy grinned at her. "Any regrets about that? You could have taken it at any time, you didn't have to give it up completely."

"No," she said softly. "No regrets, I didn't sacrifice anything. I liked the career that I chose for myself. It wasn't exactly the life that I imagined for myself when I first started out, but it's what I chose. Your turn." Sharon smiled at him. "Share and share alike, Lieutenant Flynn."

"You've read my jacket enough times," He chuckled. "Contributed to a good bit of it. Don't you already know everything? By your own admission you're little Miss Curious." They left the main strip, cutting across beneath the freeway toward Ocean Avenue.

"That's not fair, you can't make me guess. I never used my knowledge of other officers professional activities to pry into their personal lives." Sharon pouted at him. "Why don't you tell me how you ended up in LA, that accent is… New York?"

"Jersey," he grinned. "Alright, I'll play fair." Andy slanted a look at her and shrugged. "I met my ex-wife in college, her family was from out here. We pissed both our families off by getting married before the end of senior year. After graduation, she wanted to move back out here. She didn't like the winters back east. Too much snow. I promised my Ma I'd go to college, I never told her what I'd do with it when I was done. Once we got set up out here, I was a beat cop by day, finished out my graduate degree at night. Amanda wanted me to do something else with all that hard work, and by the time I got the degree, we had Tony and Nicole on the way. But I liked being a cop. I moved in to Robbery Homicide instead, and you know the rest. I worked too hard, drank too much, and got into a lot of trouble."

"You turned it around." She turned her hand over in his and laced their fingers together. "I wouldn't say you got into too much trouble, you're still here."

"Yeah well," he shrugged, slanted a look at her. "There was this hard ass down in IA that wouldn't let me alone. Kept sending me to all these anger management and sensitivity classes. Then, to top it all off, told me if I didn't dry out she was going to forego the next round of classes and take my badge. Pissed me off enough that I listened."

"Hmm…" Sharon leaned her head back against the seat rest. "She sounds horrible."

"Oh, the worst," He teased. "Thing is, I was a real ass, and an ungrateful bastard on top of it. I never bothered to thank her." Andy lifted their joined hands and brushed his lips against her knuckles. "Instead, I was a real jerk. I called her names, made fun of her, and when she could have left all our asses in a clink, she bailed us out again. Damnedest thing."

"Andy." Sharon shook her head at him. "You don't… none of that ever really bothered me and it's all history anyway. Water under the bridge. No one _likes_ Internal Affairs."

"It bothers me," he admitted. "If I had stopped running my mouth for even a second, everyone would have figured out I had a horrible crush, and you were way out of my league. Still are."

"Hardly." She snorted at him. "I'm not…" Sharon gave him an incredulous look. "I'm just… I'm no different than a lot of people, and you're insane if you think I'm going to believe that you even remotely liked me then."

"Oh, I'm nuts alright," he chuckled. "But what can I say? I was always a sucker for a great pair of legs."

Sharon tugged her hand out of his and smacked his shoulder. "You are horrible." She folded her arms over her chest, but was smiling.

"You're cute when you're blushing." He smirked. Andy pulled the car over and parked it. "Come on. We're here." He got out and walked around, opening her door.

"Where exactly is…" Sharon turned and drew a breath. "Oh. The light festival?" She smiled brightly. "I haven't been out here since Katie was about eleven."

"I know," Andy pulled her close and slipped his arm around her. "You said as much a while back."

The Light Festival was comprised of several avenues that ran parallel to the beach. The Christmas lights were arranged with different themes on each block, with the lights dancing to music. There were vendors, impromptu shows, and all of it glowing and twinkling against the backdrop of the ocean. It was a simple, casual activity for something that was only just starting. There was no pressure, no overt expectations. It allowed them to continue talking, although as they walked she was either pressed against his side or their hands were linked.

The layout culminated on the Ocean Avenue boardwalk pier, where couples swayed while music played, or huddled together against the railing to watch the lights reflections dance in the ocean waves. It wasn't as crowded or as insanely bizarre as Venice Beach, but they were anonymous enough in the crowd that they could simply be Andy and Sharon, crazy about one another, sharing heated glances and less than innocent caresses as they moved slowly with the music.

They walked out to the end of the pier, Andy bought lattes from a coffee stand. While they watched the lights play out to the horizon, where they disappeared into the night, Andy folded his arms around her, and marveled at how well they fit together. His lips moved against her air, he nosed her hair out of his way and smiled against her neck when she moaned at his gentle touch. His free hand splayed across her stomach.

He had plans for Christmas eve, but between hitched breaths and low groans, they made plans for him to join her and Rusty for dinner Christmas day. When his hand slipped beneath the hem of her sweater, Sharon moved away. It was, she told him, time that he took her home.

The drive back to Sharon's Condo felt like it took hours, although at just after ten, with little traffic now on the roads, it only lasted twenty minutes. The walk back inside and the ride in the elevator seemed to take just as long. They stood close, hands occasionally brushing, but wisely apart. When it reached her floor, they both sprang quickly out of it. Sharon had her key in her hand before they made the turn down her hall, and Andy was reaching for her even before she had it in the lock. He turned her around and pulled her flush against him, the door at her back while he explored her mouth. He turned the key himself, and they stumbled, bumping against the door neither letting go as they worked their way into the apartment.

She dropped her purse in the entry way and they shrugged out of their jackets while he kicked the door closed behind them. Her hands were in his hair, and this time, as his hands slipped beneath her sweater, she didn't stop him. They moved up her sides, drawing a low, thick whimper out of her.

"Whoa. Way to go mom."


	5. Chapter 5

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 5

"Whoa. Way to go mom."

"Who the hell is _that_?"

"Really? That is just so many different levels of disgusting."

It was like having a bucket of ice water doused over them, the voices rising from her living room as they stood, leaning against the wall opposite her door. His hand was about two centimeters from her breast while her leg was curled around his hip. They stared at each other, chests rising and falling in rapid succession, while the enormity of just how embarrassing the moment really was settled over them. Then, as if it couldn't get any worse, a deeper, voice joined the fray.

"You really have no idea just how bad it is."

As his hands dropped away from her, Andy wasn't sure if he wanted to scream or cry. Sharon smoothed her sweater down and stepped around him, hair mussed and lips swollen, but too astonished to care. "What are you doing here?" She looked between the two, Ricky and Katie who had risen and walked around the sofa to greet her.

"Surprise." Katie put her hands on her hips and smirked at them. She was every image the ballet dancer Flynn knew her to be. Taller than her mother, but her hair was the same shade, and the look on her face was all Sharon, even if her eyes were more hazel than green.

Ricky on the other hand, was much taller than both of them. Broad across the chest and shoulders, his hair was dark with none of the red or gold highlights. He had his arms folded over his chest and was glowering at the pair of them, although mostly Flynn. Andy had seen that look before, it too was all Sharon. He could see Jack in them too, if he looked hard enough, but it was their mother he was looking for. "I think she's surprised alright."

"I'm scarred for life." Rusty had his hands over his eyes. "That image is never coming out of my head."

Provenza reached out to pat his shoulder. "There, there… time heals all wounds. It at least makes them less horrific."

"I told you to go to Utah," Sharon moved to them, embarrassment forgotten. She hugged her daughter first, then her son.

His glower faded as Ricky lifted her, laughing, off her feet and into a tight hug. "We wanted to come here. It was Rusty's idea. He and the Lieutenant worked it out." He set her back on her feet and grinned crookedly.

"Maybe if we had known you had a date," Katie teased, "we would have waited until tomorrow. Does he have a name or are you finally getting in touch with your naughty side?"

Provenza snorted, Sharon blushed, and Rusty groaned. Andy rolled his eyes and stepped forward to hold out a hand. "Andy Flynn, I work with your mom." At her apologetic look, for having forgotten him, he simply winked.

"I knew that you had gone out a couple of times," Rusty stated, "but come on. I'm young, I'm impressionable. I'm in a very fragile state of mind. There are some things that I'm not supposed to see and I'm pretty sure that is one of them."

Ricky hooked a thumb in his direction. "I like him."

"Yeah mom, can we keep him?" Katie flashed a playful little grin.

"What am I? A puppy?" Rusty glared at her, although it lacked much in the way of any true heat.

"No, that's Flynn's job," Provenza muttered. He folded his arms over his chest and shook his head at them.

"Lieutenant…" Sharon turned toward him. "I don't… I can't…" Her mouth was working, but she wasn't making any coherent noises.

Provenza smiled widely. "The Captain is rendered speechless? My work here is done." He picked up his jacket and shrugged into it. "Don't read too much into this. It was all Rusty's idea. I just… took the kid to get something to eat and played taxi for your little brood. I'd also better be getting home, I turn into a pumpkin at midnight."

"Only at midnight?" Flynn shook his head at his old partner. "You old softie."

"Shut up. I'm still put out with you." He shook his finger at the man. "We're going to have another talk later."

Flynn shook his head, he walked over to the door with Provenza and picked up his and Sharon's jackets, along with her purse. "You helped Rusty get her kids here for Christmas." His eyes narrowed at his best friend. "You didn't tell me?"

"So you could tell her? What do you take me for, a Rookie?" Provenza shook his head. "Don't get yourself all worked up over it, Flynn. It's Christmas, she asked her kids to stay away because of the threats. Consider it my one good deed for the year."

Hell of a thing. Flynn shook his head again and carried everything back to the living room. "Sharon," He laid her jacket and purse on a chair, but held on to his. "I should head out too, let you all get caught up and settled."

She turned toward him and reached out, laying a hand on his arm. She would have liked to ask him to stay, but with her kids there, and their relationship still so new it didn't seem fair to inflict upon him anymore of Katie's wisecracks, Rusty's loud protestations, or Ricky's sudden descent into mother's keeper. "I'll walk you out," she said, pleased to no end to see her kids, but with a small amount of regret at how their night was ending. Sharon's hand slipped down to curl around his wrist, she pointed a finger at all three of her kids. "You lot behave."

"No fun." Katie sighed.

"Typical," Ricky shook his head.

Rusty shoved his hands into his pockets and sorted. "You're one to talk."

The look she shot at them had all three of them scurrying into the kitchen. Flynn was laughing. "Don't you start too." She grinned as she led him to the door. "They're going to be a bad influence on him."

If her eyes hadn't been so full of amusement and joy, he might have felt he needed to reassure her that Rusty was a little beyond being influenced by the older two. "You're going to love every minute of it." She had stepped out into the hall with him and pulled the door closed behind her. Andy reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Go easy on the kid."

"Hm." She pressed her lips together and shrugged. "Best present ever. He gets a pass for completely ignoring my wishes. Besides, he wasn't alone in it, Ricky and Katie are adults. When I ask them to stay away for their own safety, I expect them to heed my warnings. They're here now, and I've decided that I'm simply too happy to see them to bother being upset about the rest."

"Good." Andy bent and kissed her goodnight. "I'll call you."

"You'd better," she smiled. "I still expect to see you Wednesday for dinner. You'll give Nicole my best?"

"She'll probably bust my chops for not bringing you," he teased. "I think she likes you better than she likes her old dad."

"It's a gift." Sharon smirked at him. "Good night, Andy."

It took some work to turn and walk away from her, but one last kiss goodbye and Andy managed to make it to the elevator without, further, embarrassing either one of them.

Sharon stepped back inside and found three pairs of eyes staring at the door, waiting. She arched a brow at them. "May I help you?"

"Dish." Katie tapped her foot.

"Who is he?" Ricky still wanted to know.

"They made me stand here," Rusty said with a shrug. "I already know him, and I do _not_ want to know." He winced when Katie elbowed him. "What? I don't. I'm not the boyfriend police."

"Dude." Ricky shook his head at him. "We have got so much to teach you."

"Tons," Katie agreed.

"You two leave Rusty alone," Sharon gently admonished. "If he doesn't want to be drawn into one of your wild, troublemaking schemes, so be it."

"Oh, sure," Katie put her hands on her hips. "Take his side, just because he's the youngest…"

"Welcome to my world," Ricky looked skyward. "Now you know how it feels."

"I can't believe you're both really here," Sharon smiled widely at their antics. Her babies hadn't changed at all. She held her arms out again and they both stepped forward, leaving an awkward looking Rusty behind with his hands shoved into his pockets.

"So… you're not mad?" Rusty shuffled where he stood.

"I have decided to accept your gift in the spirit with which it was meant, so no, I'm not mad. Thank you, Rusty." She peeked out from where Ricky had his arms wrapped around his mother and sister.

Katie rolled her eyes at him. "Told you. Spaz."

"Katherine, behave." Sharon shook her head at them. She walked toward the kitchen. "Does anyone want anything?"

"I made tea when we got here," Katie said. "It should still be warm. We weren't that far ahead of you. My flight got delayed. I had to take a train to Philly and get on a plane there. I made it out before they shut down the airport. That storm is nuts." Much of the midwest had been blanketed in snow that was now falling on the northeast.

"Katie was late, big surprise," Ricky teased. He folded his six-foot, two inch body onto a stool at the breakfast bar.

"Yes, because I am all powerful and I can control the weather. Fear me, for I am a goddess." The girl smirked and poured steaming liquid into her mother's favorite teacup.

"It really is important that you believe that. I'm glad that your self confidence has improved with age, jumping bean." Ricky smirked at her.

Rusty glanced uncertainly at Sharon. "They've been like this all night. Are they always so… you know… like Flynn and Provenza?"

Sharon considered that comparison and laughed. "I never thought of it like that before, but you're right. They are, when they're together. Imagine what it was like when they lived together."

"That might just be a little more damaging to my mental wellbeing than the image of you and Flynn devouring each other that is permanently burned into the back of my eyelids." Rusty told her.

"Rusty." Her cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. "Why don't we agree to never discuss it again?"

"Nah, he's going to get miles out of that one," Ricky stated. "It's worth gold. Pace yourself though," he advised Rusty. "Don't irritate her with it too soon. Speaking of… Mom, since when are you dating?"

"Since about the time that it became your business to know," Sharon replied. "Richard, enough." She was crossing it off the list of topics they were allowed to question her about.

"Wow. It's not just me she does that too," Rusty blinked. "Well, I feel better."

"I do recall warning you that you were not the first adolescent whose presence I'd ever been graced with," she reminded him.

"Yeah, sure, anyway," Katie waved a hand at them and set the tea in front of her mother. She took a seat at the table and folded her hands around her own cup. "So, we guess you really like him?"

She said it with such a look of profound innocence that even Rusty laughed. Sharon's head thumped against the table. "We are only going to have this discussion the once," she stated. "Yes, I like him. Yes, I suppose you can say that we're dating. It's a little complicated because he works for me." After lifting her head, she held up a hand to ward off their other questions. "He's divorced, he has two grown kids, a boy and a girl, and this just started so I can't tell you anymore than that." She sighed. "Oh, and he'll be here for dinner Wednesday evening. Now, can we drop it, please?"

Having decided that they'd given her enough grief, but gotten their questions answered, Ricky and Katie exchanged a look and dual shrugs. "Sure."

"Whatever you say," Katie leaned back in her seat.

"Good." Sharon lifted her tea. "So, how long do I have you for?"

"Friday," Ricky told her. "We told Gram and Pop that we'd come up for the weekend. I fly back to San Francisco on Monday, and as long as the airport in New York is open, Katie goes home the same day."

"Otherwise, you might be stuck with me for a few more days," her daughter added. "Which is fine, I don't have to be back in the studio until the sixth."

"Well, we'll have to make the most of it, won't we?" Sharon smiled brightly. Four days, it was more than she could have hoped for. "I'm sure both of you are exhausted, so let's see if we can get the camp beds set up out here, hm?"

"They're in the hall closet, with the spare linens," Rusty said. "I pulled it all out this morning and stashed it where I'd be able to find it and not tip you off."

"You thought of everything, didn't you?" Sharon smiled warmly at him.

"Well, not everything." Rusty shrugged. "I mean, if I had thought of everything, we would have stopped for ice cream or something and spared Flynn a cold shower." He high-fived Ricky as he walked past him.

"Oh god." Sharon buried her face in her hands. It was official, she was now out numbered three to one.


	6. Chapter 6

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 6

Christmas Eve came bright and early for the Raydor household. After Ricky and Rusty got the camp beds made up, they had decided that the boys would sleep in the living room and Rusty would give Katie his bed. Sharon had not expected that turn of events, he didn't even like her to clean in there, much less giving his room up to a complete stranger. When Sharon stared at him, Rusty had made a face at her. "What? I don't like people in my room, but I'm not going to make a girl sleep on an air mattress on the floor."

After that, Sharon had been up half the night with Ricky and Katie, just getting caught up on everything that they didn't normally discuss on the phone and a lot that they had. Rusty had sat with them, mostly just watching, but joining in the conversation when prodded. It was well into the wee hours of the morning before they had turned in. It was Sharon's phone ringing which had pulled her out of a comfortable, peaceful slumber. Of course, that peace was disturbed by the Chief.

She had wanted to get her report in before midnight, prior to the official start of her divisions Holiday Hiatus, and so while Rusty and Ricky had made up the beds in the living room, Sharon had sat down at the table with her computer and typed out the official notice informing her current, present, immediate supervisor of change in nature of the relationship between herself and a subordinate.

Pope had apparently read it this morning. He had a few choice words for her, mostly regarding the state of her sanity - or lack there of, and questioning whether or not she was certain this was a road she was willing to travel.

"I'm giving you a chance to change your mind," he told her. "If you want to rethink this, then I can forget I ever read that ridiculous notice, otherwise I'm going to begin to have serious reservations about your continued mental health. Lieutenant Flynn? Are you kidding me?"

Since his response seemed more geared toward _who_ it was, rather than _that_ it was especially irritated her. Especially so early in the morning with bright sunlight streaming through her windows because she had forgotten to close the curtains the night before. Sharon had run a hand through her hair and snapped before she could think better of it. "You would rather it was Detective Sanchez?"

"What I would prefer, _Captain_, is if members of my police force did not find it necessary to make my job harder on a daily basis." He sighed then. "And don't think I don't know why you waited to send this out, or that you have somehow quite skillfully dodged the matter of Assistant Chief Taylor in the process. Of course I'll have to copy him on my response, and unless I decide to suspend you indefinitely, or maybe even fire you, his hands are going to be tied by my decision since he can't very well go over my head."

"Well, that was the point, yes," Sharon rubbed her temples. "Chief, it is what it is, and might I remind you that I had the opportunity to retire and I was dissuaded from it… by you. Furthermore, we both know that my transfer was your idea. I'm not asking for any special favors or treatment, I'm simply following the rules as they are written."

"Leave it to you to know where to find all the loopholes." He ran a hand over his head. "Fine. _Fine_. At least it isn't a lawsuit. I suppose I can be thankful for small favors. Can I at least trust that you, of all people, will keep this out of the workplace? You know you've put me in a difficult position here right? You won't be able to conduct any of his performance reviews, that leaves me giving them to Taylor or Provenza. There's bad blood with one and the other is his partner… in absurdity."

"I thought of that," Sharon replied. "Major Crimes is now run by a Captain and three Lieutenants. Andy has seniority, but Tao has the rank and I believe the objectivity to be able to handle the administrative side of things. Lieutenant Provenza might bluster a bit at first, but once he understands the difficult position that we've avoided for him, having to review his friend, I think he'll be fine with being overlooked. The No Retaliation policy saves me from any backlash from Assistant Chief Taylor. And yes," she added, "you can trust me to keep it out of the workplace."

"Very well," he still didn't sound pleased. "Consider it handled. You'll have my response by the end of the day. For whatever it's worth, I hope this works out, Captain."

"Thank you, Chief." Sharon was preparing to hang up when the other shoe fell.

"I suppose then that I can expect Lieutenant Flynn will be your escort for the New Year's Eve gala?"

Sharon winced, and almost swore out loud. "To be honest, Chief, I wasn't planning on attending."

"Nonsense," Will frowned. "This is the second year that I've held this gala, and I would appreciate it if the head of my Major Crimes division would grace us with her presence. I could make your excuses last year, the division caught a case, and you were understandably occupied. I'm not looking forward to making the same excuse this year, am I understood Captain? Get the word out. I expect to see my elite squad."

There was the price for her continued employment and relationship with Andy. "I understand, sir. I look forward to it. I'll see what I can do about the others."

"Great. Merry Christmas, Captain."

"Merry Christmas, Chief."

Sharon felt like throwing her phone when it was over. She pulled a pillow over her face and groaned loudly into it instead.

After she enjoyed a few minutes of extreme frustration, she had thrown the blankets off and sat up in bed. A trip to the bathroom and a shower later, she was feeling more like dealing with the rest of the world. Sharon padded quietly to the kitchen in her Ugg encased feet and started the coffee to brewing.

The sound and scent of breakfast being made woke Rusty. He got up and ran a hand through his hair before he trudged into the kitchen to take a seat at the breakfast bar. "Morning."

"Oh, good morning honey. Did you do okay out here last night?" She topped off her coffee and walked over to pull milk and orange juice out of the fridge for Rusty.

"Yeah, it was okay. They're a lot more comfortable than they look, actually. Or I was really tired, I'm not sure which." He stretched and yawned. "I didn't think anyone would be up this early, at least not after last night."

"Well, you're always saying that I'm abnormally cheerful in the morning," Sharon pointed out. "I suppose today isn't any different from any other."

"It's abnormal for anyone to like mornings," Rusty agreed. "You are definitely not like most people, Sharon. But, that's a good thing." He took the glass she passed him and poured juice into it.

"I'm glad you approve," she said with a smile.

"Hey, Sharon," Rusty shifted on his stool. "Do I… is there anything I should apologize for? For last night, I mean. If I went too far with the whole… you know, the teasing thing." He gave her a wary look, "I just… well, it's different, having other people around that are closer to my age and also know you. And it was _really_ weird to see you doing… you know, what you were doing."

"Oh. No, Rusty, there isn't anything for you to apologize for. I think all three of you had a bit of fun at my expense. What I would do is remind you that, well, what I do in my personal life might effect you, but there are some things that are off limits, even to my kids. My relationship with Andy could be classified as one of those things."

"So…" Rusty turned his juice glass. "It is a relationship, then? Lieutenant Provenza warned me that some things might be changing around here, and that I should.. be respectful. He said I shouldn't blab what I see and hear all over the police station."

"I'm not going to discuss specifics with you." Sharon told him. "What I will say is that I would appreciate it if you could follow the Lieutenant's advice." Lips pursed, she studied him for a moment, gauging his reaction to everything. "Does it bother you?" As she understood it, his mother had not been exactly… discriminating… in the company that she kept.

"No… not really." Rusty shrugged. "I mean, I already know him, so it's not like it's a thing. You know? Where I have to wonder what's going to happen the minute you turn your back." As he said it, he looked down, and toyed with the edge of the bar's granite top.

"Rusty," Sharon turned the burner off under the eggs and lifted the skillet off the stove. She walked over and stood directly across from him. "The one thing you will never have to worry about is that you are not safe with me, or anyone that I bring in to our lives. I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm sorry that you have to feel so uncertain about that, but I will always make sure that you are safe."

He met her gaze, it was hard to breathe past the lump in his throat. Rusty nodded slowly. "I understand."

"Do you?" Sharon's gaze was unwavering. "Let me hear it again?"

He smiled at that. She did this when she wanted there to be absolutely no question to whether or not he had understood, exactly, what she said to him, expected of him, or instructed him to do. "I understand," Rusty said again. "I am always safe with you."

"Good." Sharon moved back to the stove and turned the eggs back on. "Why don't you go get dressed. You have clean things in the laundry room that I didn't put away yet, you can use my bathroom if you're worried about waking Katie."

"I can be quiet." Rusty pushed away from the bar and slipped off the stool. "Your bathroom is too girly." He wrinkled his nose at her.

"Amazing, considering that I am in fact a girl." Sharon snarked back at him.

"No, you're a…" Rusty trailed off, and thought better of it. "Sharon."

"Breakfast in ten, if Ricky eats it all, I don't want to hear any complaints," she shot at him instead, while carefully hiding her smile.

"Well if there's food…" Ricky was about to begin complaining about being awakened so early, after such a long night. Hearing, and then smelling, that there was going to be breakfast shortly drew him out of his nest of blankets and pillows. He stood up and stretched before walking over to locate the coffee. He claimed Rusty's vacated stool and leaned his elbows on the bar. "He's right. It's abnormal for you to be this awake after being up with us all night."

"I'm not a stranger to long nights, as you well know." Sharon scooped eggs into a serving bowl and carried it to the table. By now, the waffle iron had warmed and she lifted the bowl of batter, stirring it as she prepared those.

"Oh, I know that alright." He rested his chin in his hand and watched her. "So, this kid… you made it sound like he was really fragile mom, but he's actually pretty alright. What am I missing?"

"I'm not sure that you are, actually," Sharon shrugged. "He's come a long way. There are still some hard days ahead of him, but I think…" She looked up, lips pursed. "I think that Rusty is, at some point, going to be just fine. At least, that's my hope."

"Good." Ricky shrugged. "We like him. Katie has decided he's her new favorite pet. If I were you, I'd make sure she doesn't try to smuggle him back to New York with her."

"Hm." She chuckled. "Yes, I can see that. Your sister likes to collect things and people. I don't think she's ever been alone in her entire life, much less met an actual stranger. It used to terrify me the way she would speak to just anyone, at any time."

"Yes well, speaking of the prima ballerina," Ricky stood up and stretched. He flashed a devious grin. "If I have to be up…"

"Richard…" Sharon shook her head. "Do not go…" He was already trotting down the hall and slamming into Rusty's room. "Scare your sister awake." She sighed when Katie's high-pitched squeal echoed down the hall. "The seventeen year old is more mature," she muttered.

After breakfast, the day proceeded in much the way that Sharon had intended before her children arrived. Ricky and Rusty stored their beds away for the day, and then sprawled out in front of the television with the game console that Sharon had bought Rusty for his birthday the previous year. That left her free to do the baking that she had intended, while her daughter alternated assisting with playing games with the boys.

For dinner, the four of them drove up the coastal highway to a favorite oceanside pizza parlor that had always been a favorite of both Ricky and Katie. They introduced Rusty to old family traditions, such as the two new angels that Ricky and Katie picked out for their mother, despite Rusty's comments that the condo was already an Angelpalooza zone. To prove his point, he got her an ornament that was decidedly _not_ an angel.

For Andy, dinner with his daughter and her family was a lot less nerve wracking than preparing for the ballet. At least this time, when he talked about Sharon, he didn't have to worry about whether or not he was misleading anyone and if it was going to backfire on him later.

The kites, which he had gone back for after their baseball recruiter case was closed, were a hit with the kids. He would have to hand it to Provenza, the old man knew his novelty items. Andy just hoped his daughter never figured out that he bought the kites at a head shop.

He helped Nicole clear the table while her husband took the boys into the den to string the kites and prep them for flying at the first opportunity. "I'll wash, you dry," he suggested, explaining that he didn't know where anything went.

Nicole gave him an odd look, but he had already pushed the sleeves of his sweater up and was wrist deep in steaming, soapy water. "I was surprised you came alone tonight," she said finally. She hadn't commented when her father stepped through the door by himself earlier that evening, but she had been surprised. "You two have been joined at the hip at every gathering we've had for the last six months, I was certain you'd be bringing a date." Nicole's brown eyes were lit with amusement, and not a little curiosity. Her blonde braid slipped over her shoulder when she reached for the first glass he placed in the drainer.

Andy slanted a look at her. "Well, I uh… I can see where you'd uh, think that." He shrugged. He had Sharon with him on more than one occasion, and her name was usually brought up when he couldn't make it - although to be honest, it was all in conjunction with work and not being able to get away from whichever case was currently taking priority. "Her kids surprised her, she wasn't expecting them to make it home for the holidays." After a moment, Andy sighed quietly. "I didn't exactly ask her either, her foster kid wasn't much in the mood to do anything for Christmas last year, and we were working a case too, so this was really the first chance they had to do anything together. I didn't want to put her on the spot, or him."

"Mom's not here either," Nicole grinned. "You didn't need your own personal body shield to ward her off."

"That too." Andy chuckled. "People don't often change, and old habits are hard to break. It helps to have someone around who represents my new life, not just all the memories of the old one."

"I like her," Nicole decided. She had insinuated as much, but she wanted to say it too. "Drives mom crazy, but you know…" She shrugged. The only thing her mother could say about her father was how big a screw up he was and would always be. Nicole was finally at an age that she was starting to see beyond her mother's negativity, that life wasn't just cut and dry or black and white. She was understanding how difficult it could be to stay your course, and how hard it was to get back on it once you were lost. "Mom doesn't make my decisions for me, if she did, I wouldn't have married Jake."

"What?" That was news. Andy stopped washing for a moment to study her. "Why the hell not?"

Nicole shrugged. "She said I was too young for a ready-made family, and as far as _first marriages_ went, it was a poor decision." She rolled her eyes. "I tuned her out at that point. I'm learning to make my own decisions, and I'm liking the results I'm getting. So stop worrying so much about mom's influence on me." She held out her hand and gave him a pointed look.

Andy placed the next plate in her hand and smiled. "Alright. You've got it. No more worrying. You're the boss."

"No, dad," She smirked at him. "That's your girlfriend."

"Yeah, don't I know it." He shook his head, but grinned.

"Oh please, no details." Nicole stacked the plates as they were dried. "So, I talked to Tony this morning. He might be heading out this way soon. He might not be opposed to coming over for an afternoon, maybe a little barbecue in the backyard. So if you wanted to ask Sharon, that would be okay."

"Yeah?" He cleared his throat to push away the sudden lump. "That… uh… that'd be nice. I'll talk to her about it. You'll let me know when?"

"Sure. It's all pretty up in the air. Tony isn't as… well, he's just Tony." Nicole shrugged, not wanting to explain his disbelief in everything she'd been telling him.

"He's older," Andy stated, understanding. "He remembers more than you do. It's okay. You don't need to make excuses for your brother, Nicole, he's entitled to feel the way he feels."

"He's stubborn," She pointed out. "A lot of that is in the past, and a lot of it was mom exaggerating things. You're not innocent, dad, but come on. It's not like it was all horrific or something. You weren't around, big deal, you've been trying to be around for a long time."

"Thanks Nic, I appreciate that," warmth filled him. He never thought he'd see the day when either of his kids would be willing to be around him again, least of all defending his efforts.

"Nonsense, you've earned it. Besides, the boys are crazy about you. Jake likes you too. I might still be in the honeymoon phase, but I'm all about new beginnings lately. Tony will come around." She nudged him over and away from the sink, deciding he wasn't washing fast enough. "He's a lot like you, ya know."

"Hopefully not too much," Andy said, but at the look she shot at him, he put his hands up and shrugged. "Alright, alright. I hear ya. More patience from the old man, less worrying."

"Good." Nicole smiled.

Andy pushed away from the counter. "It's getting late, you're going to want to get the boys into bed and… well, play Santa." He pushed his sleeves down and bent, kissing the top of her head. "I'd better get out of your hair so you can do it."

"Dad, you're not in our hair. It isn't that late." She smirked at him. "Unless you're wanting to swing by and see the girlfriend."

"It's late." Andy shook his head at her. "And I'll be seeing her tomorrow night." He winked as he walked toward the front of the house, Nicole trailing after him.

After saying good night to Jake and the boys, Andy made his way out to his car. He drove back to his house, only stopping once along the way to pick up the dessert he would be taking with him to dinner the next evening.

The house was an old split-level ranch that Andy bought a few years before at a city foreclosure auction, although he rarely advertised that fact. He liked the neighborhood, it was quiet, with a decent mix of younger and older families, and thankfully very little of the gang activity found in much of the rest of the city. It was a fairly quiet place, and given the nature of his work and the crap he saw every day, quiet was what he liked. An added bonus was the church where he attended his AA meetings, it was only a few blocks away.

Andy parked his car in the drive, and made a mental note, for about the three-thousandth time, that he needed to clean out the garage. He smirked slightly, maybe Sharon would let him pay Rusty to do it. The kid could do with a little hard won cash, legitimately and legally, and it would get him out of her hair for a little while. He thought about it further as he strode up the walk. Maybe he'd get some of the guys together for a barbecue, Rusty could work, eat, hang out - and there would be plenty of police protection around to keep an eye on him.

He noticed the note taped to his door before he put his key in the lock. Frowning, Andy tugged it down, thinking it was from one of his neighbors. He unlocked the door and pushed into the house. His keys were dropped onto the table near the door and he strolled to the kitchen. He didn't open the note until after he had stored the dessert in the fridge.

The contents stopped his heart and stole his breath away.

_Dear Andy,_

_You won't be able to protect her. You won't always be hovering over her shoulder. When she's gone, no one will care what happens to the boy. When Sharon is dead, Rusty will know real fear. I'll come for him, and no one will be there to stop me. _

_Enjoy her while you can. I'm coming for her first. _

_Sincerely, _

_A friend_


	7. Chapter 7

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 7

Andy's first instinct was to call Sharon, to drive over there and see for himself that she was still in one piece. He was just about to press her name in his contact list when he thought better of it. If she were not okay, surely he would have heard about it by now. Rusty had round the clock police protection. There were officers stationed outside the condo, and a patrol car outside the building. That did little to slow the wild beating of his heart.

Especially when he realized that their letter writer now knew where he lived. Andy pulled his gun from the back of his jeans and went through the house, securing it first. Then he slipped the letter into a ziploc bag to further preserve it. He didn't want to alarm Sharon, not tonight, not when she had her kids with her.

He called Provenza instead.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" The older man groused into the phone. "It's Christmas Eve for crying out loud."

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. There's been another letter," he quickly cut off anymore complaining. Once Louie got started, he would be on a roll for at least a good five minutes before Flynn would get a word in. "It was on my front door."

"What do you mean it was on your door?" That had his attention. Provenza sat up in his recliner, where he had been snoozing while listening to some holiday movie or another play too cheerful music.

"That's what I said," Flynn ran a hand through his hair and paced the length of his living room. The letter was there, on the bar that separated the room from the kitchen, an eyesore against his deep green counter top. "I got home from Nicole's and the letter was taped to my door. I took it down, I thought it was from one of the neighbors. It's happened before, I let the grass get too high out front a couple of months ago. I checked the house, no sign of entry, nothing outside to give any clue, just the damned letter taped to the front door. Damnit!"

"Alright, alright," Provenza coddled a bit. "Flynn, what did it say? How do you know it's from our guy?"

"It's our guy alright." Flynn huffed another curse under his breath. He walked over and glared down at the offending object. "It says, _Dear Andy, You won't be able to protect her. You won't always be hovering over her shoulder. When she's gone, no one will care what happens to the boy. When Sharon is dead, Rusty will know real fear. I'll come for him, and no one will be there to stop me. Enjoy her while you can. I'm coming for her first._" He walked away from it, to the far side of the room, as if to distance himself would calm his frazzled nerves. "Then he signed it the way he signed the others. It's the same guy."

"Damn." Provenza hadn't wanted to believe it. "He knows where you live."

"He's watching us." Flynn braced himself against the doorframe leading to the den. "If he didn't know where to find Sharon and Rusty before, he could now. If he's followed me here, he's followed me to her place, hell, he could have followed me to Nicole's tonight. Louie…"

"Calm down." Provenza got up and began to pace as well. "It's doubtful he'd care about Nicole. It all comes back to Rusty. It's Rusty that he wants. He started threatening the Captain because she's connected. He thought it would force her hand, she would put Rusty back in a group home, or she would send him away. Now you're connected. He'll target you, to get to her, to get back to Rusty. Damn, damn, damn…"

"Yeah…" Flynn tipped his head back against the wall. He felt a cold trickle of sweat run down the back of his neck. "Louie, her kids are here. No one thought it would be an issue, since the guy couldn't know where to find her. All the other letters went to DCFS or the office."

"I was just thinking about that myself. She's not going to like this." He scratched the top of his head. If there were a way to not tell the Captain, he'd jump at it, but the situation was too serious - too dangerous.

"She needs to be told." Andy didn't want to do that to her. The longer they waited, the worse it would be. Sharon would flay their hides for keeping it from her. "Call the guys, get them in to the office, have someone come out and process my place. I'll pick up Sharon and bring her in."

"We don't cancel anyone's vacation," Provenza continued, picking up the thought where Andy left off. "We process the letter tonight, turn it over to the team working the case."

There was an SIS team working the threat angle, in conjunction with the DA's office, but Major Crimes always got first crack at the letters when they came in. They took care of their own, and the Captain, and Rusty were their own.

"Put extra protection on the Condo," Andy continued. "Send Sanchez over, when she realizes why I've pulled her out of there, she'll be pissed. She won't be willing to leave them. Sharon will trust Sanchez."

"And Sykes," Provenza admitted. The young detective was often annoying, but she had a steady gun. "They're good together. Tao and Buzz to the office, along with us and the Captain."

"Yeah." Andy sighed. "Okay, I'll call this in. I'll wait for SIS to show up, give them the statement, and then I'll pick up Sharon and meet the rest of you downtown."

"Good." Provenza paused. "Flynn. Take a breath. Nothing is happening to the Captain or the kid. This is what we do."

"Wish I was more sure about that." There was a churning in his gut. "I'm fine. I'll see you in a little while."

"Don't do anything dumb," his partner cautioned.

"Who me? Please. I quit doing dumb when the cute little thing in IA started handing me off to her assistant." He said it with more cheer than he really felt. All the good feelings the evening had produced had quickly evaporated. It was times like these that he _almost_ regretted giving up drinking. Andy made a mental note to hit a meeting. Holidays like this, they went on, pretty much all night, all over town. He'd find one easily.

"The words _cute little thing_ do not apply to certain people, Flynn." Provenza practically growled and wanted to reach through the phone and shake his friend. "I'm going to let it go, since I realize you've had a rough night." He hung up then, before his partner could say anything else that would irritate him.

It was over an hour before Andy was able to leave his house again. SIS had shown up and began processing the scene, while another team canvassed the neighborhood to see if anyone had seen anything odd. They would need to canvas again later, do to the holiday, but fresh perspectives were always the best bet in a case like this. Andy was able to hang on to the letter, citing chain of evidence, but SIS took photos of it and it was properly bagged into evidence before he left with it.

He called Sharon as he left, simply telling her that they had a situation and he was picking her up on his way to the office. He didn't want to tell her about the new letter, not in front of her kids, especially Rusty. It was hard enough on the kid as it was.

Sanchez and Sykes were already there. He spotted them in Sanchez's car and waved as he walked toward the Condo's lobby entrance. They would come in after he'd had a chance to brief the Captain. He texted Sharon when he was inside, and only had to wait five minutes for her to ride the elevator down to meet him.

She appeared, looking relaxed and casual in jeans and a deep amethyst sweater. When she spotted him she started to tease him about not needing to make up excuses about work to come and see her now, but the words died on her tongue before she could even give voice to them. Andy looked worried, and the way his body tensed when he saw her, relief and desperation in his gaze, set her on edge. Anxiety churned, knotting her stomach as she strode toward him, a jacket and her purse thrown over her arm. "Lieutenant, what happened?"

Her use of his rank grounded him a little. There was this part of him that wanted to drag her back into the elevator and take her back upstairs where he could wrap her up and keep her safe. Neither of those an action that she would appreciate. Not Sharon who could more than take care of herself. He still and the bean-bag to prove it. Andy's jaw clenched. He reached for her jacket and held it for her. "We need to go downtown," he said. "There's been another letter."

Sharon sucked in a breath. A chill went down her spine. "Me or Rusty?"

"Neither." His hands rested on her shoulders for a moment, slid down her arms before he forced himself to step away. "It was addressed to me."

The knot in her gut twisted tighter. "Are you—"

"I'm sure. Not here, come on." He cupped her elbow and drew her away from the lobby. "Sykes and Sanchez are outside, they're going to keep an eye on things while you're gone. We added an extra patrol car to the detail around the building. Provenza, Tao and Buzz are waiting for us at the station."

They stopped outside and the two younger detectives joined them. "Ma'am," Sanchez nodded. "How many people are in your condo right now?"

"Three." Sharon blinked. She was still reeling from the increased level of security and the tightly coiled emotion she could feel coming off of Flynn. "My son and daughter, and then Rusty." She pulled her phone out of her purse and quickly brought up a photo taken just that afternoon. She showed it to both detectives so that they could visually ID the pair once they gained access to the Condo. "I don't want you to alarm them."

"No ma'am," Sanchez shook his head. "One of us will stay outside, with Rusty's security detail, the other will be inside at all times. We'll tell them that you're being over protective."

"Rusty won't buy it," Sharon pointed out.

"I can handle Rusty, ma'am." Sanchez smiled a little grimly. The kid was a brat a lot of the time, but he was mostly a good kid. He turned out better than a lot of kids that Sanchez had seen in similar and worse circumstances.

"We've got this," Sykes said. "We've got eyes on your family, Captain."

"Thank you," Sharon folded her arms in front of her. "Both of you, I understand how inconvenient it must be, being pulled away from your families tonight and Julio…" Her gaze was apologetic, "Candlelight mass is starting soon…"

"It's okay, I went to an earlier service," he stated. "I'll go in the morning too. Really, ma'am, this is more important." Julio glanced at Flynn and shrugged. "No one messes with our people."

Sharon was taken aback for a moment. Outside of Flynn no one else from the team had really bothered to claim her yet. Moisture stung behind her eyes. She was so accustomed to being disliked by most of the LAPD that his words, simple though they might have been, meant more than he could possibly know. "Thank you," she said again, softer than before. She turned to Andy, eyes beseeching. She needed to leave before they saw her lose her usually impenetrable outer shell.

Andy smiled at Sanchez and nodded. Then he lay his hand against the small of her back and directed Sharon toward his car. He waited until they had pulled away from the Condo before he handed her the evidence bag with the letter in it.

She paled upon reading it. This one was a lot more direct than the first several that had come addressed to her. Sharon turned the bag over in her hands several times before she frowned. "Where's the envelope? We'll need it tested for trace and DNA?"

Andy's hands tightened around the steering wheel. "There wasn't one. It was hand delivered."

Her sharply indrawn breath made her chest ache. "What?" Sharon stared at him, wide-eyed and ashen.

"I got home from Nicole's tonight and found it taped to my front door. There wasn't an envelope." Andy pulled over and jerked the car into park. He turned sideways in his seat, looking at her. "It was just waiting there. So sometime between when I left for Nicole's late this afternoon, and when I got back at almost ten, the dirtbag showed up and taped that note to my door."

The car was spinning. She had to grip the seat to keep from teetering sideways. "That's why you sent Sanchez and Sykes to my Condo. He isn't just an anonymous creep trying to scare us anymore." It was too small a space, too confined. Sharon clawed at her seatbelt, and finally managed to release it. Then she pushed her way out of the car, only to twist and lean against the side, head bowed against the roof while she struggled to draw air into her lungs.

"Damn." Andy quickly followed her. He rounded the back of the car in just a few strides and pulled her to him. She was ice cold. He tucked her head beneath his chin and held her tightly. "Nothing's going to happen," he promised.

"I've been threatened before," she murmured. "Those don't matter. I'm used to that. When you have to end enough careers, the people you send down are usually dirty and immoral enough that they want to threaten you, scare you into losing your nerve, changing your mind. I've been hated before. The threats against me don't matter. But if he can find you, he can find Rusty. I promised I would never send him away, but how can I keep him safe?"

"The same way you are right now." One hand moved up and down her back, the other was buried in her thick hair. "You keep him where you can see him, and you trust us to have both your backs. I'm not letting anything happen to you, to either of you."

"It may be beyond our ability to control now," she replied.

"Hey." Andy pulled back enough he could tip her face back and look into her eyes. "We're going to take care of it. We'll catch the nutjob. He's not gonna touch either one of you. Okay? Tell me you believe that."

"I believe you'll try," she said. "That's the best that I can do. I want to believe it all."

"I'll take what I can get." He brought his forehead down against hers. "We're going to make this alright. We've faced worse odds."

"We?" Despite everything, that was the part that stuck out for her at the moment.

"Yeah," his voice was still thick, rough with emotion. "We. You got a problem with that?"

"_We _is pretty complicated," she reminded him. "_We_ might want to think more about what it's getting itself into."

"_We_ can kick complicated's ass," Andy smiled slightly down at her. The shock was receding, and she had started to warm through in his embrace. He cupped her head in both hands and continued to study her. "I'm not running away at the first sign of trouble, and I'm not going to let you push me away either, so don't even try it. I know you can do this on your own, I know that's what you're used to, but that isn't what's going to happen this time. You've got me and the rest of Major Crimes, so just deal with it."

"Yes sir." Her lips twitched, but she didn't smile.

Andy groaned quietly and bent his head, kissing her. He felt her against him, warm and real, whole and safe. He didn't let it go too far, they were both emotionally raw. He drew away from her after a moment. "They're waiting for us," he said it to remind them both.

"Yes." Sharon didn't move away from him immediately. She stayed there, in the circle of his arms for another moment before a sigh was wrought from her. She straightened, nodded, and moved back into the car.

He watched the transformation as it came over her. The Captain fell into place like the shield she often used it as. The emotion behind her eyes was still raw, but as he slipped back behind the steering wheel, he saw her smoothing her hair back into place. By the time they reached the station, the outward appearance had been carefully crafted and no one would be able to tell that Captain Raydor was anything but the no nonsense woman who seldom took prisoners.

"Gentlemen," Sharon strode into the Murder Room ahead of Flynn. "I appreciate you coming in on your day off. I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Nonsense!" Provenza rose from his chair. "Where else would we be?" She seemed more or less put together. He shared a glance with Flynn, the other man shrugged and nodded.

"Where is the letter?" Tao moved forward, eager to get his hands on it.

"Right here," Flynn handed it over and walked over to lean on the edge of one of the desks. "It needs to go down to the print shop."

"Right. After I get my copies." Tao carried it over to his desk and used his portable scanner to enter it into their system, along with all of the other letters.

Buzz sat at his computer, already entering all of the data as the images were taken. "Captain, I've had several texts from Rusty."

"Thank you, Buzz. If you'll just remind him that I will speak to him when I get home."

"Okay, all done." Tao straightened. "I'll take this downstairs." Provenza had already brought them up to speed, so he didn't ask after the envelope. With any luck, the tape that the writer had used to secure it to the door would turn up a print. Unfortunately, when it came to the letters, they were running short on luck.

"Copies are printing now," Buzz stood up and walked around toward the printer. He dropped the required number coins into the jar as he took the printouts. He had already read the letter from the digital image, so he handed the printouts to Flynn before moving back to his computer. "I also sent a request to traffic for the camera footage from the intersections around the Lieutenant Flynn's neighborhood. I'll start sorting through that as soon as we have it. I believe the hours we're concentrating on are between four and ten?"

"Sounds about right," Flynn nodded. "If anything, we might spot someone familiar on the footage, or Rusty might," he glanced at the Captain.

She nodded slowly. "As soon as you have the stills, let me know. I'll have Rusty look through them if we can't make an ID ourselves. What else?"

"Patrol will be sticking close to that neighborhood," Provenza stated, "in case he returns with another letter before we find him. We've also increased the security on you and Rusty. If you aren't with one of us, you'll have someone from patrol shadowing you." He pointed a finger at her. "No objections."

Sharon ground her teeth together. She understood the necessity, but now she could truly sympathize with Rusty. "Alright." She couldn't suppress all of the displeasure in her tone. "Let's run a scan of the traffic footage too, of any images we find of Lieutenant Flynn coming and going from his house, cross reference them with the footage from tonight. Perhaps we'll find the same individual at the time he was following him." Sharon's head inclined and she considered the content of the letter. "I would concentrate on the hours between five Monday evening and…." She turned to Flynn, brows lifted in askance.

"I don't know, about eleven?" The writer might have followed them on their date, or tailed him at some point after Flynn dropped her at home. "That's assuming he didn't ID all our residences weeks ago."

"Or didn't already know," Sharon stated quietly.

"It's worth a try," Provenza nodded. "It gives us more to go on than we had before."

"In other words, don't be pissed off the nut job is following me around town, be glad that maybe he finally screwed up?" Andy made a face at his partner. "Your attempts at optimism suck."

"It's Christmas, I'm trying," the old man shot back.

Andy snorted, grinning slightly. "Try harder."

"Gentlemen," Sharon sighed at them. "Your efforts are appreciated," she said. "Now then, is there anything that we are missing here?"

"Doubtful," Andy shrugged. "We hit every base we've got. SIS has the ball."

"Alright." She turned to Buzz. "It's unlikely that you will get the footage from traffic tonight. Forward the request to SIS for what we'd like to cross reference. You can check their work when we return next week."

Buzz's jaw dropped. "But Captain—"

"No buts," she stated. "I won't have you working on this on your vacation. I'm not trying to diminish the seriousness of the matter, believe me, but you've all more than earned this time off. The data will be there when we return, in the mean time, SIS can follow up. We've increased security. We've done our due diligence, gentlemen."

Provenza was looking skyward. "I cannot believe that I am about to say this." He took a deep breath, seemingly drawing strength. "The Captain is right." He grimaced, as though admitting it was physically painful. "There isn't a lot we can do right now. Wracking up more overtime following leads which may, or may not, lead us anywhere, isn't going to do anyone any favors. We'll wrap up what we need to do tonight. I will check in with SIS for a progress report each day."

Sharon exchanged look with Andy that might have been amused. He shrugged at her and shook his head before focussing on his partner. "You feeling okay?"

Provenza glared at him. "Do you want to go there now?"

"Probably not." Flynn folded his hands in front of him. "Okay so, I'll take the Captain home. Then see what kind of mess SIS made of my yard."

"We won't be here much longer," Provenza nodded. "Right Buzz?"

"I suppose not." The younger man looked unhappy at having someone else handle the video footage. "I'll get the requests filled out and sent to the proper individuals." He sighed. "This holiday season just keeps getting worse and worse."

"Thank you all." Sharon lifted her purse again. "I am sorry, Buzz," she stopped next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"No ma'am," he replied with a sad smile. "I'm sorry. This shouldn't be happening at all."

She gave his shoulder a squeeze before she joined Flynn again. "I'm trusting you to not let either of them stay too late," she told Provenza, speaking of Buzz and Tao.

"I'm not leaving until they leave," he stated, "and there's a comfortable chair waiting for me, so we will be out of here just as quickly as I can arrange it."

"I woke him up," Flynn smirked.

"Oh." She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. "I see. Hm. Then I appreciate your attention all the more, Lieutenant."

Andy chuckled as he led her out. "If nothing else, the two of you keep everything interesting."

Sharon waited until they were in the elevator to tilt her head at him with a small smile. "I didn't think I needed Lieutenant Provenza's assistance in making things interesting for you."

"That you don't, Captain. That you don't." He flashed a heated glance at her and winked.


	8. Chapter 8

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 8

Rusty was waiting up for her when she got home, and he wasn't alone. All three were seated on the sofa when she and Andy stepped into the Condo. Sykes and Sanchez had been dismissed, after reporting that neither had spotted any unusual activity around the Condo.

"Well?" The young man was on his feet the moment the door was shut. "It was another one, wasn't it? What did this one say? It had to be bad for you to all run off and for you to have Detective Sanchez watching us."

"Yes, there was another one." Sharon dropped her purse on a chair, while Andy took her jacket for her. "Rusty, I simply wanted the added protection given there are more of you to protect right now."

"Sharon." He glared at her. She had promised never to lie to him. He could see that she was doing that now. He knew what Sharon looked like when she was upset about something, and Flynn had come back with her.

She sighed. "This one was sent to Lieutenant Flynn, it's more of the same, Rusty, and we're taking it just as seriously."

Anxiety churned inside him. Would they make him go away if it was getting worse? He thought about Sharon's offer, and the card he'd put under the tree with his answer, would any of that matter anymore? "This is so stupid."

"Rusty." Sharon sighed. She couldn't exactly blame him for his frustration. "It is what it is. We're doing the best that we can."

"I know that, Sharon, but it's just all so…" He ran his hands through his hair and heaved a sigh. "I just keep feeling like this stupid trial is going to take the rest of my life, and what happens if we catch this guy, and then there's another one? What if the threats never stop? Everyone keeps saying that Phillip Stroh was such a horrible guy, how many other people could he know that could just start this all over again."

"I really don't think that we should worry about more than what we currently have in front of us," She said softly. "Our writer is getting desperate if the letters are going to others now, it means we've been effective in keeping you secured. You don't have to worry, Rusty."

"Yeah? Then why are you?" He folded his arms over his chest, gaze unwavering. "If I don't have to worry, then why are you so freaked out right now."

"It's her job." Katie said, after exchanging a look with her brother. The kid had their mom pegged alright. They knew precious little about the whole case, only what their mother _could_ tell them, and that revolved around the security and the need for it, and why she hadn't wanted them to visit. "She's going to worry no matter what. It's a thing she does. It's going to drive you absolutely bat-crazy, but it's not going to stop. Besides, sounds pretty worry-worthy to me. Wait until she really flips out. Then it gets truly interesting."

"What? There's more," Rusty's eyes went wide. "This isn't it?" He waved a hand in Sharon's direction.

"Nice." Ricky rolled his eyes at his sister. "Way to calm the room. What the dancing jelly bean forgot to mention is that worse usually happens when there are hospital visits involved. Like when the car gets bounced through a guardrail into a ditch because some idiot is trying to impress a girl."

Katie hooked a thumb at her brother. "Meet the idiot. Almost lost his baseball scholarship over that one."

"Luckily, I was out of the cast in time to get in shape for my first season at USC." Ricky leaned forward. "My point is, so some whack job is sending a few letters. It's nerve wracking, yeah, but you don't have to make it worse. Mom is going to worry. You are going to worry, but you can't let it take over everything."

"You mean, chill out, quit being a brat, and let the adults handle it?" Rusty made a face at him. "That just…"

"Sucks." Flynn shrugged. "We know, but it's the best we've got."

"Rusty, we're going to handle it. We're going to find him," Sharon stated. "Soon enough, you'll be helping. For right now, a little patience, please?"

"Yeah." he sank back onto the sofa, deflating. "Sure. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry for being frightened," she said. "We've all had our moments, believe me. What I refuse to do is to allow this to, in any way, ruin our time together. Life goes on, for the most part."

"It's the _for the most part_, part that is the most crazy making," Rusty pointed out.

"I know," she said. "Rusty, small price to pay?" Sharon gave him a pointed look. He could be off to boarding school, or elsewhere in the Witness Protection program.

"Yeah," he sighed. "Yeah it is. So what now? Just more security, or does Emma flip her lid?"

"DDA Rios hasn't been informed yet," Sharon walked around and took a seat. She felt Flynn lean against the side of her chair and felt some of the tension leave her. "I'm sure her reaction will be just as emphatic as we have seen in the past. Nothing has really changed from the last letter to this, so it's doubtful there will be any changes in your situation. I'll face them when they occur. For now, the DA's office is closed. We have a reprieve."

"Is there anything that I can do?" Ricky leaned forward, arms resting on his knees.

"No honey," her smile warmed. "You're pretty far out of your jurisdiction." She glanced up at Andy to explain. "Ricky is San Francisco PD."

"San Francisco?" Andy tilted his head at them. "Something wrong with LA?"

Ricky chuckled. "I wanted to get started someplace where my name wasn't known, and where I hadn't played little league with a lot of the officers' kids. The hiring freeze you all have going on has kept me north. I want to transfer back to LA as soon as the freeze ends."

"Understandable," Andy nodded. "What division?"

"Narcotics." Ricky shrugged. "My beat covers the Port authority and bay areas. It's the China Town boys who have all the real fun."

"Ah." Andy grinned down at Sharon. "I was expecting him to say IA."

"Rat squad?" Ricky's eyes were dancing. "Hell no. One of those in the family was enough."

Sharon huffed quietly. "It was good enough to pay for your little league gear." Her playful tone belied any true annoyance.

"A ball playing cop and a ballerina," Andy squinted down at her. "Who are you?"

She shrugged at him and rolled her eyes. "Just a girl."

"Yeah right," Rusty and Andy both muttered.

"On another note," Katie rubbed her hands together. "Mom, it's almost midnight. You know…"

"No." Sharon smiled. "After breakfast, that's the rule."

"Oh come on!" Katie flashed a playful pout. "We could all use a little pick me up!"

"No," she drew the syllable out. "After breakfast, Christmas morning. A rule's a rule."

"She really likes rules," Rusty stated. "It's a thing. Weird, but a thing."

"Try growing up with them," Ricky stated with a grin. "Mom, Katie has a point. Let's put the night back on track. How about just one?"

"Better idea," Katie nudged Rusty. "Go make some toast. Technically, toast is breakfast, and it's morning."

"Why do I have to do it?" He made a face at her. "You make the toast."

"No!" Ricky and Sharon said together. "Kitchen appliances are not her friend," the former explained.

"Really?" Katie frowned at them. "One little microwave fire and no one ever lets me forget it."

"One?" Sharon's eyes narrowed. "The guys at the fire station knew us by name. She stays out of my kitchen unless there is strict supervision." She folded her arms over her chest. "The answer is still no. Off to bed."

"We would, but you're sitting in the middle of where we put our beds," Rusty pointed out with a grin. "How about we do just one, and then we'll all go to bed? Please?"

"Please?" Ricky and Katie joined him but with more theatrics.

"Oh alright," She threw her hands up in defeat. "Just one."

Andy laughed at her. "Sucker."

"I'll rescue the gifts from Angelpalooza," Rusty volunteered.

"I'm going to take off," Andy swept a lock of hair behind her ear while the kids were occupied. Leaving her wasn't easy, he wanted to stay and make sure she was protected, but knew that if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't leave at all. "I'll see you tomorrow, or later tonight, rather."

Sharon stood and followed him toward the door. "You could stay," she said.

"I know," he turned at the door and slipped an arm around her. "I'd like to, but it's late. You should have Christmas with your kids. Let them make you crazy and try to wheedle a few more gifts out of you."

She laughed. "They can try."

His head lowered and he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her lips. "Night."

"Good night." She held the door for him when he opened it. The officers in the hall looked up and nodded to them. Sharon smiled back. "Thank you for the ride, Lieutenant. I'll be in touch."

He nodded. "Captain." Flynn walked away before he could change his mind.

Sharon closed the door behind him and flipped each of the locks before sliding the chain into place. "Okay." She walked back to the living room. "One gift, no more, don't even think about asking for more…"

"It really is important that she believes that's going to work," Katie told Ricky.

"It speaks to her eternal sense of optimism," he replied.

Rusty shook his head at them. It was weird seeing this side of Sharon. She was different with her own kids around, but still very much the same. "Sounds more like Sharon's sense of _no_ to me," he said.

"Ah, so young," Ricky stated.

"So much for us to teach him," Katie agreed.

Rusty backed up from them, eyes wide, and went to the arm chair with his gift. "I'm staying over here."

"A wise choice," Sharon told him. "You two behave," she pointed a finger at her son and daughter. "No corrupting Rusty."

"I'm already pretty corrupt," he reminded her.

"Yes, and I want to leave it at that. There's no reason to make it any worse." She nodded firmly and took a seat in the other arm chair. "Alright, what do we have?"

"Last time we went oldest to youngest," Ricky said. "This year, we start with the youngest."

Katie started to cheer and stopped. "Hey, that no longer appeals to me the same way it did."

"I'm liking that more than you know," Ricky told her.

"So sorry," Rusty flashed a grin at her as he ripped open his gift. His eyes lit up. It was a DVD box set of a movie trilogy he liked. "I thought you said this stuff would rot my brain?"

Sharon shrugged. "It's Christmas, and you'll be eighteen in a few months. You saw them before I came along."

Ricky leaned over. "Blade. Really?"

"Vampires do not sparkle, they cinder," Rusty said seriously.

Katie sniffed. "Boys." She wriggled and then started opening her gift. It was the one from Gavin. "I would marry that man if he wasn't gay." She lifted the lid off the box and sighed, quite happily at the blue and black Michael Kors Hamilton tote that was nestled in side.

"And also way too old for you," Sharon chimed in with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah," Katie waved her off.

"Note to us, she's easily bought by fashion accessories," Ricky told Rusty.

"Good to know," he nodded with a grin. "You really shouldn't encourage Gavin's addiction. He needs help."

"Oh no," Katie said seriously. "Gavin should _always_ be encouraged." She bounced a little and hugged the purse.

"It's disturbing," Rusty said. "You know that right?"

"We make certain allowances," Sharon stated with a shrug.

"Says she who will be crooning over whatever Gavin got for her," Ricky laughed. "The fashion diva apple did not fall far from the tree, Rusty." He turned the box in his hands over a couple of times before he started unwrapping it. "Of course, notice that I am not going to complain too loudly when there are benefits in store for me too," he said of the new gleaming, silver Burberry wrist watch. He stood up and walked over to press a kiss to his mother's cheek. "You're the best."

"Hmm.. I know." She smiled. There were similar gifts for Rusty and Katie. "I'm glad you like it, baby. I suppose that makes it my turn… I think I like this better when we're with your grandparents." Hers was a pair of tickets to a play she had mentioned wanting to see. "Thank you, Rusty."

"Just do me a favor, take Lieutenant Flynn." He grinned.

"No, I think it would be good for you," she teased. "You need a little more culture in your life."

"Really," He held up his hands, warding her off. "Think of it as date night."

She laughed. "We'll see." Sharon stood up and walked around the room, picking up the discarded wrapping paper. "Now, bed, all of you." She walked through the condo, making sure all the doors were secured. Even though they were on the eleventh floor, she checked the windows and balcony door as well.

"Yeah, bed, sure…" Ricky shared a look with Rusty. "First, we're going to watch the best Christmas movie ever."

Sharon was almost afraid to ask. "Which is?"

"Die Hard," they said as one.

"Right." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Well, don't stay up too late, and I want no complaints when I wake you making breakfast."

"Bruce Willis, I'm down with that." Katie grabbed a blanket and snuggled down on the sofa while the boys got their camp beds ready. "He was hotter in RED, technically, it's a Christmas movie too."

"Die Hard first," Ricky stated. "If we're still awake, we can throw RED in."

"RED first and I bet we get mom to watch with us," Katie hedged.

Three pairs of eyes flew to her. "I am not staying up all night watching action movies."

"One action movie," Rusty pointed out. "With decent explosions and good comic timing. Come on, you've got to appreciate it."

"So we'll get a later start to the morning," Ricky reasoned. "Wouldn't be the first time." Unlike the others, he was more directed. He walked over and took his mother's shoulders and directed her to the sofa.

"Alright. One movie," she relented.

"I've got the popcorn," Katie hopped up.

"I've got the hot chocolate," Rusty went after her. Then he remembered what they'd said about Katie and cooking. "And ya know, maybe I should help with the popcorn too…" He didn't see the night ending well if there was a fire involved.

"Oh come on, a few little, minor incidents," Katie said.

"See, earlier you were saying it was just one," Rusty smirked.

"I might have been underselling it."

"Yeah," he said. "That's the part that scares me…"


	9. Chapter 9

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 9

In spite of the drama they were faced with on Christmas Eve, the following day had gone surprisingly well. Breakfast ended up being brunch, due to not one, but three movies during the night. Presents were opened afterward, and there were plenty of goodies to be found. From the designer gifts from Gavin, to the jewelry Sharon had bought for Katie, and the new watch for Rusty. There had been video games and clothes, and a new Sig Sauer .45mm with night sites for Ricky. Sharon wanted him well armed if he insisted on being a cop.

The children had treated their mother equally as well, but while Katie and Ricky were occupied with cleaning up after brunch and gifts, Rusty had followed Sharon to give her the final gift of the day. A simple yes.

Dinner that evening remained a lighthearted affair, although the dessert that Flynn brought was a big hit. The evening was simple, but perfect. While the children were ensconced in Rusty's room playing video games, Sharon joined Andy in the living room for coffee.

"You seem to be doing better today." He set his coffee on the end table and drew her feet into his lap. She seemed tired, but happy.

"Hmm." Sharon relaxed into the side of the sofa and watched while his hand circled one legging covered ankle. It was a good thing, she reflected, that she had not worn a skirt. Otherwise they'd be in trouble soon, although that could happen anyway. "It was a good day," she said. "The night didn't turn out too bad either. We did okay. Stayed up entirely too late watching movies. Eye candy, as my daughter would say."

"Eye candy," he squinted at her. "Do I want to ask?" His thumbs moved over her heel to press into her arch.

"Probably not." She smiled. "Apparently my children are mollified by action oriented Christmas movies starring Bruce Willis."

"Ouch." He pretended to wince. "That's some heavy competition. I don't know how I'll ever compete."

"I don't know," she sighed as his thumbs pressed into a sensitive spot. "I think you're doing a very good job right now." She cradled her coffee mug in both hands and continued to watch him. "He said yes."

Andy's gaze was puzzled for a moment, then he realized she was talking about the adoption. "Did he? Huh. Wasn't expecting that so soon. Good for him. Guess the kid is finally figuring out what he's got."

"I hope so." Her smile turned slightly wistful and she glanced toward the hall. "I was hoping that they would be accepting, I didn't let myself dream it would go this well."

"Come on." Andy shook his head at her. "You were worried that the kids _you_ raised wouldn't be accepting of the foster kid who hasn't had a decent break in his life? No way. I'm sure it won't always be smooth sailing, but they're doin' alright. All of 'em."

"Maybe I just needed to see it, and to hear that. It's not a situation you can just prepare for." Her eyes sparkled. "There are no rule books for this sort of thing."

"Must be painful for you." His fingers trailed along the bottom of her foot. She squirmed and he grinned. "Speaking of rules. I read the Pope's response this morning. Maybe it was a day for surprising outcomes."

Sharon groaned. "You didn't have to talk to him." She leaned over, putting her cup on the coffee table. "He called. He was not pleased. I had to sell my soul." She laid back with a sigh. "Then I had to promise to show my face at his New Years Eve gala." Sharon rolled her eyes. "He wants the squad, as many of them as I can get… although…" The wheels in her head were turning. "That's a big night for the city. I'd feel guilty pulling extra patrol officers for my own reasons when members of my own squad could be offered the _opportunity_ to keep an eye on the very important material witness."

"Wicked, wicked woman," He chuckled. "You'll make Provenza go, of course."

"Oh, of course," she grinned. "My kids will be gone by then, so it will just be Rusty. Well," she amended, "if Katie isn't stuck due to the airport closings in New York. They're going to Utah this weekend to see my parents, but she may be returning if she can't fly home. So, I will leave it up to the squad whether or not they would be willing to… watch things here, or attend the Gala - baring of course any other plans."

"Of course." He grinned at her. "Might not make for a bad night. I could introduce the kid to a range of old movies. He'll like them I think."

Her eyes narrowed. "Oh no…"

"No?" He shrugged. "Too bad. I'm not much for video games. Not so great at chess either. Eh, I'll bring decent Italian takeout, the movies will be for me… No?" Sharon was shaking her head at him. "Lady, you're going to make it hard for us to volunteer if you don't like our brand of babysitting."

"Hmm…" She chuckled as she sat up and scooted closer to him. "Maybe, but you're not going to be babysitting."

"I'm hurt," his hands moved to her knees as she edged closer. "To think that you wouldn't consider me for an acceptable security sitter for your kid. I'm crushed. Really. That cut pretty deep, Captain."

"Oh, I just bet." She draped her legs over his lap and lifted her brows at him. "But I seem to remember members of my squad stating that I would have extra security of my own. It's going to be a very crowded event. Patrol would be pretty conspicuous."

"Oh I see," he nodded slowly. "So you want me to ask Provenza to be your date? I'm not sure I can do that. I'd do a lot of things for you, Sharon but that's going on the list as a definite no…" He laughed when she nudged his shoulder.

Her eyes narrowed. "Andy."

His grin was slow, and all mischief. "Oh, you mean you want me? I'll have to check my calendar. It's awful sudden, whatever shall I wear…"

"I should ask Julio," she lay back. "It would serve you right if he agreed. On second thought, I think I—"

Andy pulled her into his lap and settled her there. "I don't think so. I'll go. I'll even make nice. Do I get to guess where you'll be hiding your gun…"

She smacked his chest and started to get up, but he pulled her back down. "You are horrible."

"Yeah, but you knew that about me already. It's why you like me." He curled an arm around her waist and held her steady. She relaxed against him and he smiled. "Hi there."

"Hi." Her arms moved around his neck. "Are we insane?"

"That seems to be the general consensus," He shrugged. "Who knows?"

"It's just… with everything that's going on, Rusty, the trial, my divorce… now we're starting this. Is it really a good idea?"

"Is it ever?" Andy's lips pursed. "I don't know, I couldn't really tell ya Sharon. I know that I like being with you, I like having you right here," he indicated his arms. "I know that I'm going to worry about you, regardless, and I worry a little less when I'm with you. Somewhere along the way, I know that you became important. I can't say what that means, but hell, it's got to mean something. I get that you're a packaged deal, and pain in the ass though he can be, the kid is alright. What I can tell you is that, at my age, with my past, and my mistakes, being able to sit right here, with you, like this… seems like a hell of a good idea to me."

His words had a way of warming her all the way through. The smile that curved her lips was soft. She laid a hand against his cheek, while the other cupped the back of his neck, fingers playing in the salt and pepper strands that barely touched his collar. "When you put it like that, it seems completely foolish to worry at all," she murmured. Her lips moved across his jaw. "It means something," she said. "You are important to me, too. More than I thought I would be capable of again. I don't know where this is going, but I like it." Her lips curved against his. "I made some promises that certain things would never be witnessed again… unless I'm going to break those, you'd better let me up."

"You're fine, they're busy. And I told Rusty if he gave enough advanced notice we'd assume opposite sides of the sofa for the sake of his sanity." He slid a hand up her back, and the other settled against her hip while he held her cradled across his lap. He lay her back, against the arm of the sofa and let his hand slide up her ribcage. His mouth slanted over hers, and he delighted at the low, throaty sound she made. She had worn a long, cashmere tunic tonight. It was probably a smart idea, but he was aching to get his hands on her. Holding her would be enough, more than enough for now.

Two hours later when Rusty finally decided to brave the world outside his room, he made all the requisite warning sounds, including the loud clearing of his throat as he headed down the short hallway. "I'm heading to the kitchen… please don't be doing bad, scary things that will scar me for life." He had one hand over his eyes when he reached the living room and slowly lowered it. They weren't on the opposite ends of sofa that he had been promised, but they weren't exactly indecent either.

Rusty rolled his eyes and walked into the kitchen to get the drinks and snacks that he had come after. As he made the turn to go back to his room, he got a better look at them. They were stretched out along the sofa, with Sharon curled against Andy's chest. Both of them sound asleep.

Ricky and Katie looked up when he reentered the room. "We're going to want to bring the camp beds in here tonight." He made a face. "They're asleep."

"Thank god for that." Ricky shuddered.

"No kidding," Katie sighed.

"Yeah." Rusty dropped back into his seat.


	10. Chapter 10

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 10

The rest of the week passed without further incident. On Friday Sharon put her kids on a plane to Salt Lake City, and then spent the rest of the day relaxing at the Condo with Rusty. Plans for New Years Eve had been made. Tao was going to the gala with his wife, while Buzz and Sanchez had volunteered to stay with Rusty. Buzz would keep him occupied while Sanchez would keep him safe. Sykes still had family in town, and so Sharon had given her a pass. The head and three senior members of the squad would be there, Sharon figured that should keep the Chief busy.

Saturday was spent shopping with Gavin. Katie had let slip to him about the gala and he simply would not allow her to attend in anything that wasn't new, and that he had not picked out. They were shadowed by her patrol escort.

"I swear," Gavin shook his head, "I haven't felt so nervous walking through a department store since I was fifteen and went into my first Macys."

Sharon laughed as they walked through Nordstroms. "Just pretend they aren't there. That's what I tell Rusty."

"That would be easier to do if they didn't stand out like eye sores, dear." He looped his arm through hers and steered her toward a rack of dresses. "So tell me, is this going to be an actual date or another pathetic excuse for spending time together."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sharon flipped through the rack and wrinkled her nose at the cut of the dresses. "Something with a little more fabric, please."

"Oh god, it's going to be one of those trips." Gavin heaved an over exaggerated sigh. "Very well…" He took her arm and pulled her with him. "Old Ladies-R-Us here we come."

"Stop it." She rolled her eyes at him. "Perhaps I don't want to freeze my butt off or show off what few remaining assets I have left the the entirety of the LAPD upper echelon, the DA's office, and the Mayor."

"It's California, my sweet, nothing is going to be freezing off of anything… except maybe your stare. Okay, okay." He put his hands up. "I'll play along. Slutty starlet is off the table. Let's see what we can find that says… elegant yet alluring. You don't want to completely knock him dead. Not at his age."

Sharon fixed him with a look. "This is the part where I remind you that I'm not that far behind him, tread carefully."

"So hard to believe," he tapped the tip of her nose. "Alright, so tell me, are we going for _Oh my god_, or a more heartfelt sense of _Yowsa!_"

Her lips pursed. A glimpse of blue drew her attention. "Maybe… somewhere between the two," she said with a small smile.

"That's my girl." Gavin clapped his hands together and turned. "Okay… watch me work, darling, watch me work…" At his advanced height he laid eyes on three sales girls. "I'm going to need you, you, and… yes you." He smiled. "Come along, we haven't got all day. You go away," he waved a hand at the police escort.

When the sales girls approached, they gave the officers uncertain looks. The closest of the two, raised a brow at them. "How may we help you, sir?"

"Oh don't mind them. Protection, she's so important." He heard Sharon groan behind him and his smile widened. She was going to kill him later. "Now then, New Years Eve, we need something for a party… only mildly age appropriate, but guaranteed to make her date drag her off at the first opportunity."

"Gavin!" Sharon covered her face. "Oh god… why did I bring you."

"Because you love me, darling, and because if this doesn't turn anything up I have the manager at Versace on speed dial." Smirking, he turned back to the sales associates. "Now then… she's obviously a winter, bold colors. Let's concentrate on blues, reds, and purples. No black. That's just depressing. Price is not an issue… so, largest commission to the winner. Off you go!"

"You are horrible." Sharon shook her head at him as they scattered.

"But so, so good at it." Gavin looped an arm through hers again and they strolled toward the fitting rooms. "So tell me, because I'm dying to know, when are you going to put the lovely Lieutenant Flynn out of his misery. You're wound up as tightly as I've ever known you. Tighter maybe, which means you're still playing with the idea but you haven't tried it on yet."

"That I am most definitely _not_ discussing with you." She leaned into his side and smirked. "Unless of course you want to return the favor… with your latest…"

"Yes, okay," he cut her off. "Changing the subject."

"Hmm. I thought so." Sharon smiled up at him. "Gavin, you know that I adore you, but some things are just left undisclosed. What I would really like to discuss is how much I wish you would let me put you on retainer for everything you've been doing recently. I could overlook the work you did on my Condo agreement, or any of the other little favors you've done over the years… but handling the divorce and Rusty's adoption, neither of which will be simple or quick… I would feel a lot better if you'd bill me."

"Until you saw the bill." He shook his head. "No. Consider it a return on your investment, dearest. If it weren't for you, I'd still be stuck in the darkest recesses of the City Attorney's office, languishing away, and so dull it would make us both sob in defeat. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but you did introduce me to Joseph. Things may not have worked out with him, but he pulled me into the firm, and we're still good friends." Joseph Riley was one of the other senior partners for which the law firm, Riley, Milkenson, and Baker was named. "Aside from that, I've known you like, forever. I'd feel odd with you paying me. I don't say that about many people, so please… just let me be nice. That doesn't happen often either."

"More often than you want people to know," she drawled.

"Well, lawyers don't exactly have a reputation for being cuddly." He laughed. "You don't get where I am by being nice."

"Hmm.. don't I know it." She lifted a dress off the rack and looked at it. "Lawyers are lying, manipulative, jerks."

"Oh, touchy subject." Gavin winced. "He got the papers?"

"He got the papers." She put the dress back onto the rack. "He didn't have the courage to call me, he called our kids. Ricky called me last night, furious with his father. The last time the man spoke to him, I had to dial the phone myself. But he gets served with divorce papers and suddenly his dialing finger works just fine."

"I hope he finally stopped being the polite little darling you raised and finally put the man in his place." Gavin folded his arms. "That was rather up there on the Jackson Spineless Meter. I take it he is refusing to sign?"

"No, he's going to sign," Sharon sighed. "He wants to do it to teach me a lesson." She flashed a nasty, heartless smile. "He doesn't think anyone else will have me. I'm so cold and unyielding. As for Ricky, he told his father to keep him out of it and not to call him again until he can behave as an adult and keep a civil tongue. Not in those exact words."

Gavin laughed. "Considering I've seen that temper before, I can imagine what he said and how he worded it. Especially with his sister egging him on."

"Hm. Exactly." She shook her head. "So, between Jackson and Rios, I'm not exactly fond of lawyers at the moment. You get a pass because I adore you, and because you'll tell me the truth." She fingered the scarf hanging on a mannequin near the fitting rooms. "Am I?"

"What?" He turned and gave her an incredulous look. "Cold? Unyielding? Oh for crying out loud." Gavin snorted his derision. "Please, don't be ridiculous." He draped an arm around her shoulders. "You know that you're not, and you normally wouldn't ask. Leave it to that idiot you married to get you all shook up like this. He always does. My god, I didn't think I'd ever snap you back last summer. What you saw in him, I will never know. I continue to pray that it went beyond being Catholic and wanting to get laid."

"Gavin!" She shoved him away from her, but she was laughing again. "You are completely impossible."

"I know." He preened. "It's just part of my charm. Oh!" He clapped his hands together. Their three helpers and returned, dresses in arms. "I like her, she gets points for bringing shoes too."

The sales girl, whose name tag read Melanie, winked at him. "It is a contest isn't it?"

"Why bring shoes, when you can bring diamonds?" The second girl, whose tag read Sarah, lifted a box with a glittering necklace in it.

"I prefer to find the dress first, then hedge my bets." A little redhead named Amelia was their final contender. "I have one very important question before we start. Hair up or down?"

"Down," Sharon and Gavin said as one.

"Excellent." She tossed two dresses over a rack. "Then either of these should look absolutely stunning on you." She lifted a deep, indigo gown and another in bright amethyst.

"Not bad…" Gavin nodded. "She's earning points. Next?"

Melanie held up two gowns, a deep vibrant blue, and a brilliant green. "Her eyes, this would look amazing with those eyes."

"She's gaining on you sweetie," He winked at redheaded Amelia. "Okay, diamond girl, what about you."

"Red." She held up a single red gown. "Special occasion, it needs to pop, and a little sparkle doesn't hurt either."

"She's bold, I like it." Gavin reached forward and took it, along with the blue and amethyst selections from the other girls. "We'll try these. You, in there," he turned back to Sharon and began shooing her into the fitting room. "Off you go. Wow us."

She accepted the red one from him and eyed it a little uncertainly. "It's awfully… _young_, don't you think?"

"Girls, you might want to pull up a few chairs. It's going to be one of those days." He nudged Sharon again. "Go, change. Now."

"Well you don't have to be so bossy." She rolled her eyes at him and went.

"It takes one to know one, dear." He turned back and eyed the remaining selections. "She won't wear those," he indicated the diamonds. "Try something a little more simple. Platinum chain, single pendant. Heels," he turned to the redhead. "Get her heels, something high, at least three inches. She can work them, I promise…"

An hour and several gowns later, Gavin had finally gotten his way and their selection was being zipped into its bag. "I cannot believe I let you talk me into this."

He smirked. "The dress, or what's going to be under it."

She groaned. "You're bad for me sometimes, you know that?"

"I do. But you need me." He held the garment bag and the one holding her shoes while she took her receipt. "Just think of me as your beloved Fairy God-Lawyer."

It was so preposterous she laughed. "Get me out of here before I change my mind."

"That I can most certainly do. Let's go find lunch, I'm starving… and I think I want Greek," he muttered as they passed a dark haired adonis that made him turn and watch as the man walked past.

"Steady on…" Sharon pulled him with her. "No trolling on an empty stomach. It gets you into trouble."

"To true." He curled his arm through hers again. "Let's go to Trattatoria, order a bottle of wine, and get you tipsy enough to give up all those little details about the hot bloodied Lieutenant Flynn that I'll never get out of you otherwise."

"We can go, but I'm not telling you anything," she stated.

"We'll see," he sing-songed. Two glasses of wine and she would be his for the detail taking. "You'll tell me, or I'll end up seeing it for myself. Either way…" At her surprised look he grinned. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm going to the gala too. I'm a plus one."

"No…" Her brows lifted. "You did not. Who?"

"Deputy DA Steven Mathis." He smirked. "He broke up with that delectable little male model he was dating, and decided he wanted something with a little more… me."

Sharon laughed. "That's one way of putting it, I guess. Good for you. Although isn't he a bit older than you typically like? He has to be at least… thirty."

"Ouch." He nudged her. "That hurt. One, one little twenty-seven year old surfer boy and you decide to brand me. I'll remind you that I was on the rebound."

"Oh, of course you were," she soothed with a smile. "I'm sorry, I had forgotten. Alright, I won't bring it up again. So.. DDA Mathis… tall, dark, blue eyes… and the only DDA that you've ever lost to, aside from Andrea Hobbs. This should be interesting," she teased.

"He's smart, I like that. I appreciate smart brunettes," he tugged on a lock of her hair. "It should definitely be interesting, though. I'm looking forward to it, and for your information, he is forty two."

"Very well, I stand corrected." She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm still not telling you anything."

"Oh, you'll tell me," he promised. "Sooner or later, Shar, you _always _tell me. Even when you know I'll give you hell about it. I can be patient."

"I'm going to find it interesting to see how long you last," she challenged.

"You're on." He smirked. He'd make that three glasses of wine and get them a driver.


	11. Chapter 11

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 11

Tuesday, New Years Eve, arrived bright and sunny. The temperatures for the day were in the low 80s, reaching a high of 82 instead of the forecasted 80 degree cap. Rusty watched Sharon move through the day, preparing for the evening's party. When Buzz arrived, a little after six, he and the other man sat down at the table for a game of chess. "Why does it take all day to get ready for a party?"

"I've learned it's better to _not _ask," Buzz told him. "The answer is usually a little more confusing than the question." He shook his head as he moved his first pawn.

Sanchez showed up a few minutes later. "I brought the movies." He joined the other two at the table, tilted his head at the game in progress. "That's not what you're going to do all night, right?"

"No." Buzz waved a hand toward the kitchen. "I brought the food. I was keeping him occupied."

"Good." Julio looked around. "I didn't see Flynn's car. Where's the Captain?"

"Still getting ready." Rusty wrinkled his nose. "She disappeared _hours_ ago."

"Female routines baffle him," Buzz supplied with a slight grin.

"With good reason." Sanchez walked into the kitchen to inspect the food situation. "Did you remember to get the pot stickers?"

"Yes, and the cashew chicken, and those little spring rolls you like so much." Buzz rolled his eyes. "I'm well equipped with picking up food orders for my coworkers."

"Yeah." Julio grinned. "We'll keep you." He opened a soda and moved over to rejoin them.

There was another knock at the door and Rusty glanced up. "That has to be Lieutenant Flynn."

"Yeah, I'll get it." Julio walked over and let the other man in. "Nice," he shrugged at the other man's attire. "But honestly, sir, you didn't have to get dressed up on my account."

"Funny." Flynn walked in. "Very funny." He looked around. "Where is she?"

"Still getting ready," Buzz and Rusty intoned together.

"Ah." Flynn moved his hands into his pockets and walked over to join them, trailing after Sanchez. "So, what's the plan for tonight?"

"If you don't know, I might be the wrong person to ask," Rusty smirked at him.

"Rusty." Buzz shook his head at him.

"We've got movies, food," Sanchez shrugged. "It's going to be a guys night. The boy needs a positive male role model." He paused, grinned. "Buzz is going to chaperone and make sure I don't corrupt him too much."

"Why do I have to be the chaperone," the film tech asked. When three pairs of eyes gave him knowing, and slightly incredulous looks, he sighed. "Right. Never mind."

"What movies did you bring, anyway?" Rusty leaned over and pulled the bag to him. "Fast and Furious 6, Scream, The Strangers, The Italian Job, and Vacancy…"

"Julio!" Buzz reached for the movies. "Except for two of these, they're all horror movies. I thought you were going to bring action movies, and a comedy."

Sanchez shrugged. "The Italian Job was funny. Think of the others as… educational. The kid needs to learn how to out-think creepy stalker dudes."

"The best way to do that is with horror movies?" Buzz did not look sold on the idea.

"Yeah," Sanchez said. "At least until he turns eighteen and the Captain let's us start taking him to the range."

"Never going to happen, Detective." Sharon swept into the outer rooms, a black clutch in one hand, a thin red drape held in the other. "Rusty, don't even entertain the thought."

Everyone turned and stared. Thin red straps held the gown in place, with its halter style, scoop bodice. It was the deep, bold crimson that set off her pale complexion and the red and gold lights in her hair. The material draped over her breasts, giving a hint of cleavage but nothing she would find unduly revealing. Then it hugged her waist and hips before falling in soft, flowing lines to the floor. She had left her hair down, as was her preference, but had it drawn over one shoulder.

She smiled at Andy, dressed sharply in his dark, suit. The man could wear a suit well, that was for sure. This one, simple black suit with a white shirt and red tie… fit him well indeed. Hugo Boss, if she didn't miss her guess. It fit him well and she would tell him as much as soon as they were without the current audience.

Rusty's jaw had dropped open. "Holy…"

"Yeah," Buzz agreed.

"Ma'am." Julio blinked a few times.

Andy was still speechless. Jewels sparkled at her ears and wrist, and there was a simple, solitaire pendant on a thin chain around her neck. It was all very simple, and yet, he had to remember to breathe to keep from embarrassing himself in front of the guys. The only word that seemed capable of leaving him was, "Wow." That seemed to sum it up for them all, since the other three were nodding.

"Oh…" Not prepared for that reaction, least of all from the others, Sharon turned and walked into the living room where she left her phone charging.

When he saw that the back of the gown fell to almost her middle back, Andy almost groaned out loud. She was killing him. He just wondered if she had done it on purpose.

"You know, sir," Sanchez shrugged. "If you'd rather skip the entire thing, you can stay here with Rusty. I wouldn't mind keeping an eye—"

Flynn glared at him. "I couldn't possibly let you miss out on your guy's night."

"Of course not, sir." Sanchez flashed a small smirk.

Since they seemed to have gotten over it, Sharon returned, phone in hand. "Rusty, I'll have my cell. I know Buzz brought takeout, but if you all get hungry again later, there's cash for pizza or whatever in the usual spot. Thank you both again," she told the two men, "for changing your plans for tonight."

"It wasn't a problem, ma'am," Buzz smiled. "We're glad to do it."

"Yeah." Sanchez grinned. His eyes sparkled when Flynn's glare darkened. "It wasn't a problem, Captain. Enjoy your evening, we've got the kid."

"Yeah, two babysitters," Rusty smiled at her. "I'm well taken care of."

"Be good," She pointed a finger at him. "Have fun."

"I could say the same," he quipped.

They watched the couple leave and Sanchez looked at Buzz. "Does anyone here think they're getting home before breakfast?"

"Nope." Buzz suppressed a smile.

"Not a chance." Rusty leaned his chin in his hand and took down Buzz's knight.

Flynn was silent until they made it into the elevator. His hand moved to her back. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Sharon stared straight ahead, fought the smile. "Maybe… just a little. Is it working?"

"Maybe… just a little." He slanted a look down at her.

"Hmm." She clasped her hands in front of her, holding the clutch in both of them. "Good."

He groaned. "Wicked." But his hand slid up her back and his thumb brushed the bare skin between her shoulder blades. He felt the shudder run through her smiled. Andy bent his head to her ear. His lips parted, his voice pitched low. "Wicked… witch…"

She sucked in a breath. "So you keep saying."

"With good reason, I think." He moved his arm around her waist and pulled her to him, turning her against him. Andy brushed a kiss across her lips. "Hi there."

Smiling, Sharon folded herself against him. "Hey…"

"You look amazing tonight." Mindful of the carefully applied makeup, he kissed her again.

"Thank you." His reaction always surprised her. She was aware that she was not an unfortunate looking woman, but the way he responded to her presence did her ego good. Not to mention the not insignificant heat that moved through her each time he touched her, or looked at her the way he was doing now. Sharon smoothed her hands down the lapels of his jacket. "You're looking pretty good yourself. I like this." The gray three-piece suit was still her favorite, but she really liked this one as well.

"I'm hardly a drop in the ocean compared to you." He kissed the top of her head and stepped away when the elevator doors opened. Andy took her hand and drew her with him into the lobby. "I just have one question…just where exactly did you hide your service weapon?"

Sharon hummed. She shrugged, smiled, but said nothing else besides a simple, "Guess you'll have to figure it out, Lieutenant."

They had reservations for dinner at a restaurant not far from the Omni Hotel, where the party was being held, and since parties of this sort didn't really start to become interesting until closer to nine, timing their arrival at just before put them there just in time to miss the early party awkwardness and boredom.

It also meant that Assistant Chief Taylor, who had arrived back in town just in time to read the emails he had been copied on, but not do anything about them, was in prime position to keep an eye out. It wasn't necessarily that he was steaming about being circumvented. Oh no, as a man who had done some professional maneuvering of his own, he could admire that particular handiwork.

While he mingled through the crowd, working his way through brass and the upper echelons of Los Angeles city politics and society, he continuously scanned the crowd. He didn't know the exact moment that they arrived, but he did eventually spot the pair. Taylor worked his way around the room and slipped up behind them. "You reported the lapse in your conduct to the Chief," he spoke quietly enough that it wouldn't carry to the rest of the party crowd.

The response was one he wanted. They both turned surprised looks on him before they were quickly schooled. "Chief." Raydor straightened, chin lifting.

Taylor recognized that move, it was her ready for battle stance. He smiled, not an entirely pleasant expression. "Everything we've been through, Captain, and you do an end run around me while I'm out of town on a _family_ vacation," he stressed the word on purpose. "I'm not just stunned, I'm a little bit hurt."

"I doubt that very much," Sharon tilted her head, her smile was pleasant but lacking in real warmth. "You're only bothered that you didn't get to do the honors yourself, but I promise, I got quite an earful from our boss."

"Good. You probably needed it." Taylor gestured in front of him. "Honestly, Captain, let me go on the record as saying… I wouldn't have cared. Beyond the obvious pitfalls, I'm just surprised that you had it in you really. The maneuvering. That was some excellent work, if I do say so myself." He leaned forward. "I think it bodes well for you… just remember, I'm watching you both."

Flynn watched him leave, lips pursed. "Was that meant to be inspirational or fear inducing. I don't think he quite hit the mark."

"Conspiratorial I think was the theme he was going for." Sharon shrugged. "It's the only avenue we left open for him. We'll have to take it and run with it."

"No arguments from me." Flynn maneuvered her further into the crowd. "Let's go be seen and make the boss happy."

"Oh how fun," she drawled, with more than a little sarcasm.

Lieutenant Provenza took another glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter as he worked his way through the crowd. He had spotted Tao and his wife a little while ago and wanted to join them. The problem was, he kept getting side tracked by people that he knew but didn't want to talk to. The Captain was going to owe him for this one. He was going to see to it that she paid, and paid in full this time. He might just collect a little payment from Flynn too. What were partners for, after all, if not paying their girlfriends' debts.

He was halfway across the room when a familiar voice drew his attention. "Lieutenant, is that you? Oh my goodness, it is you." Pale pink gown and blonde curls bouncing, former Deputy Chief Johnson approached him with a wide smile. "I never would have expected to see you tonight!"

"Chief." He almost choked on his drink. "What…. uh… what are you doing here? I don't think anyone would have caught you at one of these things." Although surprised, he was none-the-less delighted. He endured it when she hugged him.

"Oh, you know," She waved a hand through the air. "It's been a couple of years now. We can let bygones be bygones… besides… Fritzy is still a liaison between the FBI and the LAPD, and most of the District Attorney's office is here tonight, so… here I am, on both accounts. What about you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he stated, tone drier than usual. "Have you seen the others yet? Tao is here too, with his wife, and Flynn is running around here somewhere… no doubt making a fool out of himself."

"No, I didn't… well, we only got here a little while ago. We went to dinner first, and then traffic…" She laughed. "Now Fritz is off somewhere… oh well, I'll find him eventually. So what about you? Here with anyone special…"

"God no." He shuddered. "It's bad enough being here at all. Let's just say… my new boss… has it coming."

Brenda giggled, took a sip of her wine. "Oh, come on now, Lieutenant. I don't think it can be all that bad." She leaned forward, voice pitched low. "Is she that bad?"

"Yes. She's absolutely impossible," he groused. "But no, not in the way you're thinking. It's been… well, I don't know how to explain it really. Different, I suppose is the correct word. Interesting, certainly. Well, I don't want to give you the completely wrong impression, but let's just say…" He trailed off when he spotted a familiar silver head in the crowd. "Well, why don't you just have a look for yourself." Provenza turned Brenda so that she could see what he was now seeing.

They were talking to Gavin, who was gesturing as wildly as he always did when in the throes of a particularly flamboyant story. Whatever the subject of the story was, they were too far away to hear it. What they had though was good enough line of sight to watch Flynn run his hands from shoulders to wrists of his _date _before letting them fall to her waist. She leaned back against him, for just a moment, before stepping away and turning slightly in to him. Flynn's hands fell away from her waist, but Sharon loosely clasped the fingers of one hand with his. It was a move that looked so well choreographed that, for just a moment, Provenza thought that if he didn't know better he would be questioning just how long this _thing_ between them had been going on.

"Oh! For heavens sakes!" Brenda's jaw dropped.

"Exactly." Provenza allowed a small, triumphant smile. It didn't last long.

"Why didn't you tell me the Captain was here too! Well, don't just stand there, come on let's go say hello… and oh! That _woman_! How come no one told me she was datin' Andy."

She was off before he could stop her. "What? No!" That was not the reaction that Provenza was hoping for. Why did no one else, besides him, see the insanity of all this? His shoulders slumped and he was left no choice but to follow her. "Damn."

It wasn't necessarily that he did not want his friend to be happy, nothing could be farther from the truth, and maybe he was just a little bit cynical… but couldn't just one person, one person besides him see the impossibility of the situation? Apparently he was on his own, which meant keeping a closer eye on everything and being ready to pick up the pieces later. Damn them. It was all a lot easier when he didn't particularly care.

He caught up to them as Brenda let Flynn go from a hug. "Captain." He lifted his glass, and glared at her.

"Lieutenant, so glad you could join us." Her tone practically dripped honey. "Are you enjoying yourself."

"Oh sure. Having a blast," he feigned a little cheer. "Rusty?"

"With Buzz and Detective Sanchez," she stated. "I believe they were going to have a guys night. He was looking forward to it."

"Yes, I can imagine. And here we are, having all this fun too." He toasted her. "Thank you so much for thinking of me."

Flynn laughed outright. "Well, we know how you love a good party."

"Hmm…" Sharon smiled. "Think of it as a show of divisional solidarity," she said. "If I had to be here, Lieutenant, then you had to be here with me."

"More like misery loves company," Provenza replied.

"Oh, it's not as bad as all that," Brenda rolled her eyes at him. "Just remind yourself that it could be worse, Lieutenant."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." He paused for effect. "She could have forced me to come as her date."

Sharon laughed. "I thought I had already used that punishment. Oh well, I can always continue saving it for another time."

"That's the spirit." Flynn rocked back on his heels.

"You boys talk amongst yourselves," Brenda took Sharon's arm. "We need drinks. Don't worry, we'll be back…"

As she was pulled away, for no doubt more than just to find drinks, Sharon whimpered quietly and gave Flynn the pleading look she usually reserved for when Tao was on one of his long-winded technological spiels, Rusty was being particularly difficult, or she was otherwise desperate for rescue.

Unable to do anything, he slipped his hands into his pockets and shrugged at her. His look was all apologetic as he turned back to Provenza. Gavin had also moved on, along with his date for the night. "You know the Chief roped her into this thing tonight, right?"

"Oh I know." He smirked. "But I can still give her crap about it. It's expected. I can't disappoint. Look, just because my favorite verbal sparring partner is now your girlfriend, doesn't mean I go easy. At work, outside of work, or anywhere. The Captain and I know where we stand with each other. You keep your little romance out of it."

Flynn snorted. "Fair enough." Far be it for him to get caught in the middle of that weird and complicated situation. "So, how long do I wait before I rescue her."

"Well…" Provenza considered it. "If you want any hope at all of taking her home tonight, and not back to her place… give it exactly two minutes. Two minutes, and then you go and steal her away for a dance. And that is the last I will say on it. Ever."

"Yeah, sure it is." Andy shook his head. "Come on, let's go find Tao and say hello." He glanced at his watch. Two minutes and no more.

Fortunately for the Lieutenant, Agent Howard located his wife well before that two minutes was up. The women had only just found the bar when he swooped in to dance her away. Sharon breathed a sigh of relief at not having to ask all the thousands of questions she had seen, virtually, dancing in the other woman's head. The night wasn't over, however, but she would have to trust in the Agent's ability to keep his wife occupied.

In the meantime, she ordered drinks. Two club sodas, and went back in search of her date. She found him at a table with the other members of their squad. "Agent Howard," she explained at his questioning glance. "Saved by the FBI." Sharon passed the glass into his hand and turned to greet Tao and his wife.

The group chatted, amicably, discussing the holidays and their families, when the topic turned toward the party and their relationship, Flynn decided that the best part of valor would be to separate his date and his partner. He set both their glasses on the table and moved her onto the dance floor.

The music was more trendy than he would have liked, but slow enough that he could maneuver her easily into the fray of swaying bodies. Andy drew her close, one hand at the small of her back while he grasped her other. "Tell me something," he said against her ear. "We had to make an appearance tonight, but I don't remember anything about how long we had to stay…"

"Hmm." She chuckled softly. "What is it, exactly, that you're suggesting, Lieutenant Flynn. Are you insinuating that we should bail on our friends and colleagues."

"I'm not insinuating anything." He pulled her as close as propriety would allow. "I'm saying plainly, let's get the hell out of here while we still can."

"As much as I would love to," the low rumble of his voice against her ear sent electric sparks of heat and excitement curling through her. "We really haven't been here long enough to justify disappearing." Sharon leaned back and smiled up at him. "At least not yet. We should make another round of mingling, and then I promise, we are out of here."

"Then why are we standing here doing nothing," he teased.

"You wanted to dance," she reminded him.

"Oh right." His hand moved up her back, and stopped just shy of the edge of her dress. His fingers itched to touch her again, but he was trying very hard to be good. "Well, I like dancing with you. Maybe we can delay our departure just a few more minutes."

Sharon smiled. "I can deal with that."

"Good." Andy decided the hell with being good, his fingers brushed the bare skin of her back, just once.

"Who is being the wicked one?" She arched a brow at him. "_That_ is not going to get us out of here any faster, Andrew Flynn."

"No?" His fingers continued to gently caress the soft, warm skin. "Damn. Well then, maybe I'll just enjoy this little mingling thing. Make the most out of it."

Laughing, Sharon stepped away from him. "Hands where I can see them, Flynn." She turned and walked toward their table, but not without tossing a look at him over her shoulder.

Andy watched her walk, more saunter, away from him and groaned inwardly. His longer stride easily caught up. "Okay, I'm really bad at being good. But you knew that about me." He slipped his hand around hers and fell in step with her.

Her lips pursed. "Actually, I've come to think of it more as… being very good at being bad."

"Really?" He looked surprised. "Well, I never thought I'd hear that from you. I think we've corrupted you. Welcome to the dark side."

She responded with a low throaty chuckle. "I thought Internal Affairs was the dark side?"

"Different dark side," he quipped. "Ours is better, the boss is prettier."

"Oh god," she made a noise that was half groan, half laugh. "If that makes its way onto a mug, I'm coming after you."

"Well, now that you mention it, it could make a perfect gift for Provenza." His head inclined. "Oh yeah, I'm seeing something in green and yellow."

"I'm beginning to understand a lot more about why he's always so grumpy," Sharon decided. "I think there's a good chunk of it that is all you."

"More than half at least," he grinned widely, looking proud of that fact. "Someone has to keep him on his toes. It's fun. You should know, the other fourth is all yours."

"Only a fourth?" She gave him a small pout. "I should be allowed at least half."

Andy shook his head. "Nah, I've known him longer. We'll have to work you up to more. Don't worry, just follow my lead. When that vein in his forehead starts to pop out, you know you've gotten it just right."

"Ah, but I took his job. Stole it right out from under him, so the story goes. I think that entitles me to half."

"Sorry Sharon, can't do it." He smiled down at her. "But I'm really encouraged that you're so enthusiastic."

"See, they're already arguing," Provenza pointed out to Tao. "It was only a matter of time. What did you do," he wasn't sure which one to direct it at, so he just scowled at both of them.

"Actually we were discussing who gets more custody of keeping you so cheerful and full of joy," Flynn grinned crookedly. "Sharon wants half. I'll give her a fourth, but with the option for a more even split in the future."

"Oh god." Provenza rubbed a hand over his face. "Keep me out of your… whatever it is." He waved a hand at them. "Please, I'm begging you. Please keep me out of it."

Sharon exchanged a look with Andy, both of them smiling. "What about a third?"

"I could live with that." His hand moved to the small of her back as he directed her away from the table, back into the crowd of partygoers.

Tao laughed as he stood up and offered his wife a hand so that he could take her onto the dance floor. "You should have seen this coming. It's been there since day one. Julio owes me fifty bucks."

Provenza snorted into his drink. "It's been there a lot longer than that, my friend. A _lot_ longer."

Tao's wife smiled. The old man could be difficult and down right unpleasant, but she saw through his grumbling. "I think it's sweet. You shouldn't worry so much. I'm sure that everything will work itself out. I'm also sure she'll still let him come out and play with you as long as you two don't get into too much trouble."

Tao steered his wife away then, into the swaying mass of dancing bodies. Provenza huffed. That was not all he was worried about. Mostly, but not all.

It was pushing eleven, just an hour away from the new year, before Andy and Sharon finally made good their escape. Their circuit through the room had opened them up to several conversations, and one of those and included one former Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. Sharon had managed to dodge her by slipping into a crowd of former teammates with PSB, leaving Andy to talk to her and field her questions which had revolved around _when_ and _how long_ along with the incredibly pointed, _why had no one told her!_

Andy left her quite mollified after several long minutes, at the expense of his own squirming, by explaining it was really new and outside reporting it to superiors, they hadn't told anyone yet. That he had not been dating her one time nemesis behind her back set her right at ease. Even if they had become something which resembled professional allies, perhaps even friends, there was still a fine line to be walked between like and dislike. It was something Andy had never been able to put his finger on, he wasn't sure even they could. In the end, he decided to chalk it up to being as similar as they were different. Sharon and the Chief were two strong, stubborn, and independent women who had clawed their way toward the top of a predominantly male world. There was always going to be a rough edge between them.

When Agent Howard appeared to reclaim his wife, Andy was relieved. Being on the receiving end of one of Brenda Leigh's interrogations was not a pleasant place to be. The move to the District Attorney's office had not diminished her skills in any way. He was also a little sad to see her go. They all had such busy lives, which made it hard to keep in touch.

The feeling only lasted as long as it took for his eyes to scan the crowd and located his date. Andy stood with his hands in his pockets, and his head tilted while he watched her. He might have been jealous, but for the fact that the guy she was dancing with was one Gavin Q. Baker, and even if she wasn't his type, they had been friends far too long for it to have ever been an issue. That and Sharon wasn't a woman whose affections were so easily given. Twenty years of legal separation from a man who didn't deserve to be married to her was more than religious guilt or financial safeguarding.

There was something in the way that she had told him her marriage had been a safety net, and he understood it well. His mistakes and addiction had ended his marriage, but there was a reason he'd only been married the once. There had been a time when he thought that was it for him, and he was certain that Sharon must have believed the same. It was why she had held on so long. The hard, cold outer shell she wore for the rest of the world was hard to get past, but once behind it was a woman who felt deeply and he could see in the glimpses of uncertain she had shown in _them_ that despite whatever she said and the distance she showed to her failed marriage, Jack had hurt her deeply. She may have high expectations, rules and beliefs that she tried to live by and wanted those in her personal sphere to live by as well, but she wasn't unyielding.

Sharon could give, she could meet in the middle, and she would give chance after chance until she called it over on a lost cause. His career was evidence enough of that. She saved his butt enough times. He was wise enough to recognize it. She could, and had been, a right bitch, but old age had matured him enough to see that it was necessary for the hard decisions that needed to be made. She had held on to her marriage and it sliced her deep, some of the wounds which were still not completely healed, and wouldn't be until it was completely over.

Andy found it hard to believe, now, that he had ever liked that man. What he realized now was that Jack was the quintessential con artist, the gambler, the man who could make people see what he wanted them to see and keep them believing it until it was too late. He wondered if that was how Sharon had been drawn in. It would have been the ultimate con for a man like Jack. When he thought back on what he knew of him, had seen of him, it was hard to reconcile the woman he knew ever loving a man like that. For much of the time that he had known Jack, Andy had been a drunk. They both had, and perhaps that was why he had liked him. Having seen for himself, now that he was long sober, that the guy hadn't changed so much and was maybe a little more of a creep, made him sick to think that he had once been like that.

It left him with one thought. Hell of a thing, that she could want to be with him. His partner could be right in that it was insane, he wasn't going to complain. Not when he could look at her, laughing and happy, eyes sparkling and feel that tug inside of him. Especially when she must have felt him watching her, because she looked at him and her eyes softened. That tug became an ache, emotion so strong it was nearly, painfully, uncomfortable. It didn't have a name yet, but it didn't need one, not just yet.

He strode toward them and cut in on the lawyer. His arms moved around her and the ache receded into something more comfortable. They finished that dance, and another, before quietly removing themselves from the party.

As they left the ballroom, Andy slipped his arm around her. When he didn't take them toward the exit to pick up his car from the valet, but instead, turned them toward the elevators, Sharon inclined her head at him. "Another surprise?"

"It's still early," he said. "Unless you're ready to call it a night?" His brows lifted, but there was a playful gleam in his dark eyes.

"Hm." She smiled at him. "No… You've managed to… pique my curiosity." There was a certain thrill of anticipation and anxiety that settled inside her. He was taking her upstairs. Sharon concentrated on her breathing as they stepped into the elevator and he pushed the button for the fifteenth floor. Then he was behind her, and an arm curled around her waist and drew her back against him. She exhaled quietly. His lips were against her ear a second later.

"If you want me to take you home, I can…" Now that she knew where they were going, he was giving her an out. They might have been moving in this direction for months, but he would not press her to move any faster than she was ready. Even if it was driving him slowly insane.

His hand moved across her stomach. She drew a breath and settled back against him. Sharon reached up and covered his hand. It was terrifying, on so many levels, the idea of opening herself up again. "Andy… no, no I'm… good." She leaned her head back against his shoulder, and tilted her head up to touch her lips to his jaw.

Andy's arms tightened around her, holding her more closely. He slipped a hand up to move her hair over her shoulder and bent his head, lips soft against the bare skin of her shoulder. He did little beyond simply hold her while they were in the elevator, and when the doors opened on fifteen, he kept an arm wound around her waist when he stepped out behind her. Andy took the keycard out of his pocket as they walked down the hall. They rounded a bend and moved down a second hall before stopping in front of the door that went with the keycard. Andy let her move into the room ahead of him and followed her at a more leisurely pace.

Sharon was surprised to find them in a small suite. Soft lighting and a wall of large, glass windows. The view of the city was lovely. As she moved to the windows, she saw that a door to her left led to a bedroom and large en suite bathroom. Sharon turned and let her gaze encompass the rest of the room. On a chair in the sitting room were two small bags. She recognized one of them as her own overnight bag. She arched a brow at Andy. "Should I ask how you managed that?"

"Probably not." Andy dropped the keycard on the table by the door and moved into the suite behind her. "There might have been a small conspiracy. Gavin might have been involved."

"Ah." She folded her hands in front of her. "I see. So while I was out of the apartment this afternoon, Gavin came by and did a little maneuvering of his own."

"Could have gone something like that." He gave her a crooked grin. "I decided it was best if I didn't get involved with all of the details."

"Mmm…" She folded her lips together, attempting to suppress a smile. "Even without Gavin's assistance, I see you were feeling awfully confident." Sharon walked slowly toward him. "And Rusty?"

"Isn't an idiot or naive, and he's well taken care of for the night." She stopped in front of him, and his fingers itched to reach for her again. He held steady for the moment, waiting for her reaction. "It wasn't confidence. It was hope."

"Oh," she said softly. Whatever else she was expecting he might say, that wasn't it. She lifted her lips to his and moved her arms around his neck. Heat swept through her when his arms moved around her and drew her flush against him. She gasped when he lifted her. "Careful, we're not sixteen anymore," she mumbled against his mouth.

"Yes. Thank god for that." At sixteen he would have already had her dress off. She was not a woman with whom he had any intention of rushing. They had the rest of the night and he fully intended to take advantage of that.


	12. Chapter 12

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 12

Light was just beginning to filter in through the large picture windows of hotel bedroom when Andy woke. It was only barely dawn, and a glance at the clock assured him that it was still a good two hours before the time he normally woke in the morning. Yet, despite the very little amount of sleep he had the night before, he wasn't interested in burying his head and closing out the world as he normally did at this hour. A long expanse of bare, pale skin drew his attention and he leaned up on his elbow, head in his hand, to let his gaze follow its length.

The duvet was bunched around her hips as she lay, sprawled on her stomach, head turned away from him and still sleeping. By his estimation they hadn't been asleep for very long, but he would need to get her home soon, preferably before the kid was awake. At least, he knew that would be her preference. Andy glanced at the clock again and a smile tugged at his lips. He leaned over and trailed his fingers up her back, lips following their path. He felt her shift, heard her sigh. He smoothed her hair back from her neck and trailed kisses across it to her cheek.

"Sharon." His hand slid back down her side, beneath the duvet.

"Hmm." She moved, sliding back against his warmth. Her eyes fluttered but didn't open.

"We need to get up." His lips moved back to her neck, then to her shoulder.

Another sigh was forthcoming, she lifted her head and pushed her hair back. It took her eyes a moment to focus. She had the heavy feeling of too little sleep, and her body ached in ways she had forgotten that it could, but none of it was altogether unpleasant. "Time?"

He found her monosyllabic incoherence first thing in the morning adorable. Andy smiled. "Early. Not quite five."

Sharon groaned again. She let her head fall back against the pillow, but she was watching him. "Coffee?"

He rose, and reached over her for the phone beside the bed. "I'll call down for it."

"Hm." She lay there for another moment before she pushed herself up, pulling the duvet around her as she did. Sharon looked around the room, and after spotting his shirt, she shuffled over in the duvet to scoop it off the floor. Once she had it on, she tossed the duvet back onto the bed and made her way into the outer room.

She returned with both their bags, which she placed on the foot of the bed. Sharon tucked a lock of hair behind her ear while she opened hers to see what Gavin had provided. When she pulled out jeans and a formfitting blouse, Andy found an entirely new list of reasons to love that lawyer. He rolled off the bed and moved to stand behind her. He curled one arm around her waist, while the other crossed over her chest, then he drew her back against his him. He nosed her hair out of his way and kissed her neck. "Morning beautiful."

"Mmm…" Her head fell back against his shoulder, and her arms lifted to rest over his. Their fingers twined. "Morning." Her eyes closed, a smile tugged at her lips when he continued to kiss his way down her neck to her shoulder. "If you start that, we'll never get out of here."

"I wouldn't complain." His arms dropped, and his hands slid up under the hem of the shirt.

"Andy…" She shivered against him. His fingers danced across her stomach, began sliding up her ribcage.

"Hm?" She had only bothered to close a single button. He undid that easily enough and started tugging the shirt down her arms. The knock on the door was room service bringing their coffee. It was his turn to sigh. "Damn."

Sharon laughed. She hitched the shirt back up and held it closed with one hand. "Go get the coffee," she walked toward the bathroom. "Then you can join me in the shower."

Andy didn't have to be told twice. He grabbed his pants on the way out of the room. He had once thought that woman was going to be the end of him. He was finding, with large degrees of pleasure, that was still true. He just really didn't mind anymore.

By some small miracle they managed to get checked out of the hotel by six-thirty. They picked up breakfast on the way back to Sharon's condo from a diner that was well liked by the squad. When they arrived, Andy carried Sharon's bag up, along with the bags holding the cartons of breakfast while she dealt with the coffee.

At her door, Sharon paused, key poised in front of the lock. Her head tilted and she slanted a look at him. "Is Julio a morning person?"

"I've never really thought about it. Why?" It was an odd question, and his look relayed his confusion at it.

"I'm just hoping that if we wake him up getting into the condo," she drawled, "that I won't get shot before he realizes that it's us."

Andy laughed. "That might depend on how many of those movies they watched and how annoying the kid decided to be."

"I was afraid of that." She nodded slowly and slipped the key into the lock. She turned it just as quietly as she could. Sharon eased the door open and glanced inside. The condo was still dark. They both eased inside and moved with as much stealth as they could manage. Sharon had Andy leave her bag against the wall and follow her into the kitchen.

The camp beds had been set up in the living room, but aside from the two sleeping men on her floor, she saw nothing else out of place. The food and coffee was left on the breakfast bar while Sharon moved down the hall to peek in on Rusty. He too was sprawled out, completely unaware of the world around him. She eased his door closed again and slipped back down the hall. Sharon moved her bag to her room before rejoining Andy in the kitchen. She smiled that he had already located plates and silverware.

Low voices and the smell of strong coffee drew the attention of the two men sleeping in the living room. Julio was awake first, and went still, hand reaching for the gun he had kept near him, until he realized he was hearing the Captain and Lieutenant Flynn. He exhaled slowly and ran his hand through his hair as he got up. He walked into the kitchen and gratefully accepted the coffee when it was held out. "Ma'am. Lieutenant." While he said nothing, he smirked slightly that they were both in jeans this morning, and not the evening wear he'd last seen them in.

"Good morning Julio." Sharon leaned back against the opposite counter, sipping her coffee. "If I feed you can we agree to _never_ discuss this?"

He grinned outright and chuckled quietly. "Discuss what ma'am?"

She flashed a relieved smile and pushed off the counter. She opened the cartons containing eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon and freshly baked croissants. There was a tray of fresh fruit as well. Sharon enlisted Andy in helping her carry it all to the table. Buzz joined them there a few minutes later.

"Thank you, both, for staying with Rusty last night. He'd never admit it, but I know he was looking forward to it…" It was directed more at Buzz, whom the boy had spent the most time with. "I hope he was well behaved?"

"It was my pleasure," Buzz said. "We had fun."

"Rusty was okay, ma'am." Julio told her. "It wasn't a problem. And anything he says I taught him… it was really Buzz."

While Andy snorted, she shook her head. "I'll keep that in mind, Detective."

"They were both well behaved," Buzz said. "For the most part."

"Hm." Sharon looked at Andy. "It's that last piece that scares me."

"With good reason," He decided.

After breakfast they said goodbye to Buzz and Julio, and Andy helped Sharon put away the camp beds and clean up. She let Rusty sleep, and started a pot of coffee. Andy only stayed with her for another hour. They were back at work the next day and both needed the rest. There was also the added fact that they'd stopped being able to keep their hands to themselves and they had promised Rusty there would be no more floor shows.

There was a buzz of anticipation which stirred the office on Thursday morning. Flynn was there at his usual time, coffee in hand, and looking through the reports from SIS on the letter which had been left on his door. Provenza kept watching him, but he ignored his partner. Sykes was, as usual, oblivious to everything around her while Buzz and Sanchez were as good as their word and gave no indication that anything out of the ordinary had taken place over the course of their holiday vacation.

Provenza shared a look with Tao who just shrugged. Whether the remainder of the night had gone well or not, it didn't look like they would ever know. The older lieutenant could hardly complain, it was being kept out of the office, which he had been particularly concerned about. At least, so far it was. The familiar sound of heels moving toward them meant they were about to find out. He and Tao glanced at each other again.

The Captain swept into the murder room, moving between desks with her usual grace and ease as she made her way toward her office. "Good morning everyone." She paused near her office as the round of greetings echoed back at her and let her gaze sweep the room. Rusty waved as he walked through on his way to his cubicle, leaving nothing at all out of the ordinary for a workday.

"Captain, we have the first round of reports from SIS," Flynn waved the file. "To sum it up, there was a whole lot of nothin'."

"We knew that was going to happen," she stated with a sigh. "Alright, until something else comes up let's work it. I'd like Lieutenant Provenza to take lead on this, the letter was left at your house, addressed to you," she cut off his protest before it could start.

Always with the rules. He almost smiled. "Yes ma'am."

"Good." She disappeared into her office at that point, only to reemerge a few minutes later to retrieve coffee and the reports left by Robbery Homicide over the cases they had caught during Major Crimes holiday hiatus.

The Captain set the tone and the day fell into its usual routine. Provenza breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all.

By noon they had caught a case of their own, the missing daughter of a hot shot Hollywood producer. She had disappeared New Year's eve, and a body matching her description had washed up on Venice beach. The team rolled out, leaving Sharon behind as had become the habit. It was part of the delicate balance she had laid out to find even ground with Lieutenant Provenza. She allowed him to act as incident commander at the crime scenes, except when her presence was particularly necessary. That was occurring less often since the letters had started coming addressed to her. Lately she was rarely on scene at all, unless they were closed scenes. She could sympathize with Rusty's plight, as it had - to a much lesser degree - become hers as well of late.

As it so happened the body turned out to be the missing producer's daughter, and while the team worked that case, the letter took a back burner. There was very little to go on as it was, and their review of the SIS investigation found no gaps or dropped balls. It was simply a matter of having the same lack of evidence they'd had all along. Buzz was still looking through the traffic camera footage and cross referencing it when time allowed with their current cases, but SIS was doing the same and had not turned up anything yet. Sharon, as well as the rest of her squad, had far more confidence in Buzz's abilities, but very little hope of their finding anything soon.

The continued extra rotation of security continued, with Assistant Chief Taylor's consent. The threats were escalating. DDA Rios was more vocal than ever about removing Rusty from Sharon's care, but, for the moment, no one was agreeing. Sharon had Gavin start the adoption proceedings, and although Rusty would turn eighteen in just a few months time, filing the preliminary paperwork would help to keep him where he was. Her divorce wasn't final yet, but they could not risk waiting.

That was another matter which had caused no small amount of headache for the new year. Jack had returned the papers, in person, beating on her door and arguing with the officers outside when his key had no longer worked. Sharon had changed the locks two weeks after his last visit, and had not bothered to tell him. His sudden reappearance might have been a mild annoyance but for the fact that he arrived in the middle of the night. While Andy was with her.

Getting members of her squad to babysit her teenage foster son so that she could carry on an illicit affair was not something that she was comfortable with, so the thought was not considered again. Date night was an elusive creature, and it was usually Provenza keeping Rusty occupied, or taking him out for burgers which allowed Flynn to take Sharon out. Otherwise, they were reduced to him sneaking into her Condo after the kid went to bed, and leaving at quarter to five, to get home in time to shower, change and be in the office on time.

That had lasted exactly a week, at which point Rusty had told them - quite emphatically - that he did not care. He didn't want to see it, but he did not care if Lieutenant Flynn was around. He appreciated that they were respecting his space, he really did, but he was good with the whole thing. Inwardly, he knew that Sharon was happier than he had seen her since coming to live with her, and he _liked _that. In spite of everything, the letters, the trial, and all of the other dozens of things that he knew were stressing her out these last several months, she was _happy_. As long as they maintained the no visual rule, he could deal with it. It was ridiculous that they were even trying to sneak around anyway, what were they, fifteen?

Sharon still wasn't comfortable with Rusty knowing that he was there, or _why _he was there. So he still came over late, but he didn't leave quite so early. He brought a change of clothes and left for the office from her Condo, on the nights that he stayed. And it wasn't every night, after all, they were far removed from that stage in their lives. It just so happened he was with her when Jack arrived.

The yelling and the banging had woken them, and Rusty, and they had both reached for their guns.

"Sharon?" Rusty was outside her bedroom door, but had stopped just short of entering. The no visual rule included putting himself in those predicaments.

"Go to your room and lock the door, Rusty." She was there a moment later, robe hastily tied with Flynn hot on her heels in a t-shirt and shorts. "Go." She pointed at his room, at the end of the hall and waited while he slowly backed toward it. "Lock. The. Door."

"But… what about you?" He sent a desperate look at Flynn over her shoulder.

"Don't worry kid." He edged around her and moved down the hall.

"Rusty," Sharon's tone had become more insistent.

"I'm going, I'm going… I'm locking the door." He stepped into his room and the door closed.

Sharon waited until she heard the click of the lock before she moved down the hall behind Flynn. In the living room they could hear the argument going on outside the door a little more clearly. They both relaxed, marginally. "Oh god." Sharon breathed. This was not the headache she needed.

Andy gave her a sympathetic look. He curled an arm around her shoulders and drew her to him. "Say the word and I can kick his ass and have him hauled out of here by your watchdogs."

"That is so tempting." She pressed her forehead against his chest. She heaved a heavy sigh and shook her head. Then she tipped it back and smiled sadly up at him. "This I have to do."

"Yeah." It didn't make it any easier, and he sure as hell didn't like it. He wanted to take her back to bed and hold her until she fell asleep again. She was exhausted. All this worry about Rusty, the upcoming SIS operation, and the letters… all of it was taking its toll on her. He knew that she already had Gavin start the adoption proceedings, but she worried she was too late. She worried she would lose him anyway, and then she wouldn't be able to protect him, and she worried that by hanging on, she was going to be the instrument of his demise. The last thing she needed right now was Jack Raydor beating down her door in a tantrum over losing his favorite plaything. "Just remember," Andy added. "If he gets out of hand, the offer stands."

"If he gets out of hand, I'll do it myself," she stated. "And let you help."

"Yeah." He had a small smile for that. "That's my girl."

Sharon gripped his chin and leaned up, kissing him quickly. "Can you…" She nodded toward the hall.

"No problem." It was a big damned problem, but he understood. It might go a little easier on her if Jack didn't see him. He could get out of the way, but only for that reason. "I'll get Rusty to show me what that First Person Shooter thing is that he and Sanchez are always going on about."

"Thank you." Warmth settled through her, despite the ache in her chest and the churning in her stomach, she did feel just a little better knowing that he was there. Right there to be with her if she needed him. Sharon watched him move back down the hall, and when she heard his voice and then Rusty's door, she drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. She flipped the lock and slid the chain on her door and pulled it open, the gun, still in her hand, was pressed against her thigh. "Jackson, do you realize what time it is?" Sharon's gaze swept the officers, who looked prepared to remove him, and seemed a second away from taking him down. "Gentlemen, I do apologize. My ex-husband has an unfortunate sense of bad timing."

"Husband," Jack stressed, holding up the papers. They had not been finalized yet. He was going to hold on to that little technicality for as long as he could. "When the hell did you change the lock, Sharon. My key didn't work."

"That was exactly the reason I changed it," she told him. Sighing, she pushed the door open and stepped back against it. "At least get inside before you wake the entire building." She gestured into her apartment with her gun hand, and he had the good sense to keep his mouth closed and look just a little nervous when he walked past her.

"Thank you, both," she told the officers again. "I'll handle it from here."

"Ma'am." They looked uncertain, but they drew back.

Sharon closed the door behind her, a little more loudly than was absolutely necessary she was sure. "What are you doing here?" She walked over and placed the gun on the breakfast bar before turning to glare at her husband.

"Hoping I could talk some sense into you," he waved the envelope with the divorce papers at her. "Sharon, is this really necessary? Come on. What we've got has worked well for us this long. Why are you doing this now?"

"For you," she said, holding up a hand when he moved closer to her than she would have liked. Sharon took a step back. "What we have has worked well for _you_. I'm done, Jack. It's over, and it has been over. This has been a long time coming, and we both knew it. I'm not discussing it anymore." She folded her arms over her chest and stared at him, with the same unwavering indifference she had been practicing for just this moment.

"You're not discussing it?" Jack's eyes narrowed. "You're done?" He pointed the envelope at her. "That's what this is about. That's what it has always been about. _You_ decide when it's done, when it's going to be discussed, and you expect the rest of us to fall in line with you. Your rules, Sharon, it's always been about living by your rules."

"That isn't a place you want to go," she said quietly, voice dipping an octave. "Think carefully, Jack, because once you go down this road there isn't any going back." Dread was fisting itself around her chest, squeezing tightly. If she had hoped to avoid an ugly confrontation, he wasn't going to accommodate her.

"Always so cold, Sharon," he glared at her. "Always so controlled." He shifted his stance, shook his head at her. "Never willing to even give an inch."

Her warning had gone unheeded. Pain sliced through her. Her jaw clenched. "You left." It was an argument that was probably a long time in coming, twenty years, to be exact. "_You_ left me, Jack. Not the other way around. I asked you to quit drinking. I asked you to quit gambling. I asked you to be a father and a husband and you left. You walked out. You gave up the booze, but you wouldn't give up the cards, you walked out the door instead." She pointed a finger at him. "But not before you cleaned out our savings, you cleaned out the checking, and you took a second mortgage on the house without telling me. You left me to go chasing poker tournaments with two small kids, that I couldn't even afford to feed after you cleaned me out, and a house that I almost lost. _You_ broke this. If I'm cold, it's because you made me this way. If I'm hard, it's because I had to be. Someone had to take care of us, Jack, because you wouldn't. You weren't there."

"Sharon, baby," he reached for her, but she dodged him. She was ramrod straight, arms wrapped tightly around herself. "Let me fix it, let me make it better." He reached for her again, but she was hard, like a statue when his arms closed around her.

"It's too late." Sharon stared straight ahead. He felt foreign against her now, and how long had it been since the last time she let him touch her. It was gone, whatever ability he used to have to get past her resolve was long gone, and his touch did nothing but make her wish he would leave. That in itself was pain. Hot and steady, and slicing her open. Proof, more than anything that her marriage was long over. He was right, though, when he had told Rusty that she still loved him. There was a part of her that did, and probably always would. It was that part of her that remembered being twenty and believing in forever. That was before he left her cold and lonely, and aching. "It's twenty years too late for you to fix this, Jack." Her jaw ached from how tightly she was holding it together. A headache was stirring behind her eyes from the force of holding back the moisture threatening to blur her vision. "I want a divorce. Let me go…" The last was whispered, she could hardly breathe past the aching knot in her throat, much less speak.

"You've moved on." He saw the jacket before she spoke. A leather jacket much too large to belong to her or to Rusty. It was draped over the back of a chair. Now that he had her near enough, it wasn't just Sharon's Dior that he smelled, mingled in her hair. His hands fell away, he stepped back. Jack stared at her, not quite what he expected to see. "You're with someone else?"

He sounded incredulous enough that her back straightened again. "Don't. Just… don't."

There was enough threat in her tone that he wisely snapped his jaw shut again. Jack had more than one affair in the twenty years they were separated. Affairs he blamed on her. He blamed a lot of things on her. That was that. In twenty years of separation she never moved on before. He moved in and out of her life, or her bed when she was willing, never staying long but always coming back. It was only the last few visits that she refused him. She let him stay in the spare room, but she was off limits. He stayed longer this last time, tried more than once, but she hadn't given even an inch. Now he was beginning to understand why. As mad as he was, Jack wisely knew to keep the baser insults that occurred silent.

"Well then." Jack dropped the divorce papers onto the table beside him with some amount of defeat. "I guess that's it. It really is over." As long as she was still waiting for him to straighten up, there had been a chance of talking her out of it. She wasn't waiting anymore. "Is he… do you…" He couldn't even get the words out, because in what universe had he ever expected that she would actually not love him anymore.

The pain in his eyes should not have cut her so deeply, she should have been beyond that, but she wasn't. Sharon inhaled sharply. "Yes." She said it softly, not to hurt him further, but so that he would understand just how over their marriage really was.

Jack let go of the breath he was holding. His knuckles knocked against the table he was staring at. He wouldn't look at her now, that hurt too much. "Why?" If he was searching for more pain, for more reason to hurt, that question would do it. He needed to hear it, he needed her to say it.

Her arms closed more tightly around herself. The pressure building inside her was almost too much. Her teeth dug painfully across her bottom lip. Sharon reached up and tugged a lock of hair behind her ear. She didn't want to answer him. True though the answer was, it was another deep slice of agonizing pain. Hadn't there been enough? But then Jack was looking at her again, and she forced air into her lungs once more. "He's everything I wanted you to be," She said quietly. There was so much more to it than that, but he was everything that Jack was not, and she needed that strength in her life.

"Right." It was what he expected, she delivered the blow and it sliced deep. "Okay." He tapped the envelope holding the end of their union. "Signed. I won't…" His jaw clenched. He shook his head. "Gavin's work, yeah?" At her nod, he sighed. "I'm not going to fight you. It's all yours. I guess it always was. I wouldn't win a court battle against Gavin if I tried." He nodded once and he turned. He was almost to the door when he stopped. "The cops, outside. What is that about?"

"Rusty," she explained in a thick voice. "There were more letters. It's a precaution, until the trial."

Jack frowned. "Why not put the kid in witness protection?"

"He doesn't want to go," she said. Sharon sighed. "My son stays with me."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." He new she was getting attached. When he was there last time, he saw it. "I'm going," he put his hand on the door and tilted his head. "Sharon…"

"Goodbye Jack." Whatever parting entreaty he wanted to make, she didn't want to hear it. They had said enough, more than enough.

He looked back. He always left when she was not around. He slipped out. He never had to face her, never had to let her see him leave. Maybe because he had known that if he actually had to say it… it would really be over. "Good bye, Sharon."

The click of the door closing jolted her. Air rushed out of her lungs and she bent, a hand braced against the bar while she struggled to breathe past the sharp ache knotted at her center. She turned, and found the granite surface of the bar cool against her forehead. Sharon rested there, needing that anchor.

Long minutes passed until the feeling receded enough that she could straighten. She pushed her hair back from her face and walked to the door. Each lock was moved back into place. Only then did she retrieve her gun, shut out the light, and make the walk down the hall. She knocked on Rusty's door before opening it, and the smile she gave him felt as though her face would crack with it. "Fun's over boys. Time for bed."

They had turned the volume up when they had heard the voices raise just slightly, as much out of respect as it was to keep them both in the room. Hearing her pain would have sent them to her rescue, and seeing her now, they both regretted staying put.

"Aw, but Sharon…" They both intoned, with more cheer than any of the three of them felt.

"Bed," she insisted. "It's late." That they tried helped. That she had them both there helped even more.

"You're kicking my butt anyway, kid." Andy put the controller down. Damn thing was lost on him. He stood up and walked to the door. He slipped past her, and noted she was rigid. Andy wisely kept his hands to himself and moved into the hall.

"Good night, Rusty." She waited until he had shut off the game and moved back to his bed.

"Night, Sharon." He wanted to ask her if she was okay, and if she wanted to talk about it, because wasn't that something that he should do? Isn't that the point that Buzz kept trying to make to him? That none of this was all about him. Except this, this had nothing to do with him, and still he wanted to know that she was okay. She didn't _look_ okay, but there was some part of him that held back. He worried that he would hurt her more by asking. Rusty watched his door close and lay back on his bed.

He reflected, and definitely not for the first time, just how different Sharon was from his mother. She would have raged, screamed, and broken things. She would have sobbed uncontrollably, clung to him, and made him promise that no matter what, he would always still love her. That he would never leave her, even if her love of the moment had gone. She would not have sent him to his room - even if he had a room to be sent to, and separated him from the scene. She would not pretend that everything was okay, even when it was obvious that it wasn't. She wouldn't fake a smile and tell him to go to bed.

She wouldn't do any of that. Mainly because she wasn't there, but she wouldn't have done any of that because she wouldn't be thinking of him through any of it. Rusty stared at his ceiling. He was hurting right now and it had nothing to do with Sharon Beck, and everything to do with the Sharon that was actually in his life. He hurt because she hurt, and that was an odd feeling, but not necessarily bad. He thought about his words to Doctor Joe, not too long ago, when he said that Sharon was not his mother. No, she really wasn't. She really wasn't because while she was breaking, she looked right at him, smiled, and told him to go to bed. His mother would never do that.

Rusty rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. He didn't think he could sleep, but he would try. Sharon told him to go to bed, so he was going to try. But tomorrow he was going to call Doctor Joe and answer his question. In a way, he already answered it, for himself and for Sharon, when he said she could adopt him. But now he wanted to say it out loud. He wanted to say it to someone else. He wanted to say that if his mother ever came back that he would stay. He would stay because he wanted to, because he needed to, and because Sharon needed him to.

Down the hall, there was not a word spoken. Andy watched while Sharon placed her gun back in its holster in the drawer beside her bed. Then she stood there, not moving, arms hanging at her sides. He reached for her carefully, pulled her slowly to him. She was stiff, but she was trembling. He folded his arms around her and she didn't protest. Hers lifted, and rather than push him away, her hands fisted in his t-shirt.

She held on, she held on for dear life when the first tremor worked its way through her. She pressed her face against his chest and when her knees buckled, he held her up. If she thought she wouldn't cry over the end of her marriage, that she had shed her last tears over Jackson Raydor long ago, she was wrong.

Andy lifted her and moved them both to the bed. There, he wrapped himself around her while she shuddered against him with silent tears. It was not the grief he expected, and he wondered for how long she had kept her pain silent. With his lips in her hair, his hands moved up and down her back, stroking gently. Except for the occasional sniffle, or hitch in her breathing, she never made a sound. He grieved with her, he had loved ex-wife. He knew this feeling. And he ached for Sharon, because he wondered how often she had cried herself to sleep over Jack, her kids, Rusty… without anyone ever being the wiser. He slipped a hand into her hair, fingers gently massaging her scalp. He kept just as silent. There were no words that would make this better. It had to be felt.

It was a long time before it ran its course. In the end, Sharon was still laying against Andy's chest, his hands were still gentle against her back and hair. "It's late," she whispered.

"Or early," his tone was soft, quiet. His fingers were drawing abstract patters against her back.

"Hmm." His shirt was damp with her tears. They were tears that she had cried over another man, and still he held her. Sharon drew a slow, shuddering breath. "I'm sorry."

"No," he said firmly. Andy tipped her face up and gazed into the eyes that held so much emotion he couldn't believe anyone would ever think her cold. "You've nothing to be sorry for. He hurt you."

"I hurt him," she said. "But that isn't why I'm sorry. That was par for the course of my marriage. I held onto it longer than I should have, but it's over now, and it has been. No, I'm sorry that Jack heard it first."

Something inside of him shifted. The way that she was looking at him, the emotion that made her eyes a darker shade of green. He swept her hair back from her face, behind her ear and cupped her cheek. His voice was thick, chest tight. "Heard what?"

"That I love you," she murmur softly.

He drew a sharp breath. He pulled her up, hands in her hair as his mouth found her lips. He rolled her beneath him. The words were between them now, real and tangible. Andy knew that she had heard a lot of things tonight. Words hurled at her with the intention of hurting, pleading. Rather than speak, he smoothed away her tears. He used gentle caresses and delighted in her soft sighs. His hands and mouth became the instruments of melting her pain and chasing it away.

When she started to unravel beneath him, he swept away the last keening ache of regret by pressing his mouth against her ear. "Me too."


	13. Chapter 13

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 13

Jack's visit had closed one door and opened another, bringing a much needed closure and causing a shift in the air. The only darkness looming over them now was the trial, and the letters. Not that there had been anymore. Life was steamrolling on, and the trial was actually getting closer. That thing which Rusty believed would never happen was actually taking shape. There was actually an end in sight, light at shining at the end of a still very long tunnel, but foreseeable now at least.

With only a single, tiny problem.

The letters kept coming. It was becoming more evident than ever that they were being watched. Their writer had eyes on them. There had been no more personal deliveries, though, but that was a small comfort. It left everyone on edge.

Sharon allowed the department to put Rusty back on the street, and witnessed his brave facade. Her boy was terrified, but would never admit it. He went out day, after day, surrounded by undercover SIS officers, wearing a vest, and returned each evening emotionally drained but no closer to a break through.

For two weeks Sharon watched that go on before she called a halt. Rusty needed a break. It was chipping away at him, leaving him frayed. He saw her worry. He saw the team's worry. He wanted to help, them, as much as himself. He was going to make a mistake, potentially a fatal one. He needed to not be a tool, he needed to be a boy again.

Andy was almost afraid to let Sharon out of his sight, but life needed to be lived. They had both been threatened before and they knew that if they succumbed to that fear, their scumbag won. They maintained the status quo, normalcy was the key to making it through each day. He continued to spend only two or three nights a week at the Condo. They were no where near ready for any lofty commitments, they were comfortable. And Sharon was free.

Twenty years of legal separation had made the no-contest divorce a lot simpler than anticipated. Gavin tied it into a neat little bow for her and delivered the final papers along with a hearing date for the adoption.

In a moment of rare levity, Sharon turned to Andy after reading Gavin's news, delivered by e-mail. "If he wasn't gay I'd leave you for him."

He was sitting at her dining table, reading a file he brought home with him on their latest case. "That's okay babe. If I was, I'd leave you for him."

Rusty groaned when she kissed him. "Oh come on. You guys promised." He smirked when they sprang apart. "You're too easy."

It was seldom that Sharon saw anything resembling a smile on Rusty anymore, so she let it go. She would let him have his fun at her expense, just this once. Sharon kept him off the street for three days before she let SIS have him again, this time with stipulations that she got Doctor Joe to back her up on. SIS could have him, but only for a week at a time. He would get two, full days off operational status.

How he spent those days, Sharon left up to Rusty. She only asked that he do something besides hide away at the apartment or the police station. That meant going to a movie with Buzz, out for burgers with Provenza. Sanchez took him to a basketball game. Flynn took him out to watch the first day of Dodgers spring training.

Letters or no, life kept going.

Or it didn't. Which was why their cases kept coming. The current case involved the son of a city council member murdered in an apparent drug deal gone wrong, along with three other individuals. Narcotics division had been keeping an eye on this particular dealer, who shuffled product in from south of the border.

"So tell me how it is, exactly," Provenza was trying to wrap his head around the sequence of events. "That you people were keeping an eye on this guy," he waved his hand at once of the sheet draped bodies. "But he still managed to end up dead, as the same time as these two," he indicated the other two bodies. "Maybe you can explain to me, if you were _watching_ him, how they all ended up dead!"

Two Narcotics detectives sighed. One of them rubbed his forehead. It was always like this. Every time Major Crimes showed up at one of their scenes to take over, they got read the riot act. "Look, Lieutenant, it all happened pretty fast… We were watching the guy, but by the time we got over here, it was all over and the perp was gone."

"Now see, it's the perp being gone part that we have such a problem with, Stevens," Flynn shook his head. "Now we have to go find him. Then there's paperwork, interrogations, the possibility of overtime."

"Simple surveillance, that's all you had to do." Provenza shook his head. "What happened to the art of simple surveillance."

Sykes strolled up carrying two bags of product. "Looks like a delivery issue." She held up the two bags. "Our data says this gang usually has more smack on hand. This has already been cut, bagged, and ready for sale." The detective dropped it into a waiting brown, paper, evidence bag.

"Delivery issue?" Flynn watched the her log the drugs in, then walk around and kneel down near their dealer's body. Sykes was scanning the scene, looking for something. "Enlighten us, please." He looked at Provenza, "This I gotta hear." He folded his arms over his chest and waited.

"Hmph. I'm on pins and needles." The old man huffed, but turned his attention toward the kid. The line between Major Crimes and Narcotics was long and distinguished. More than once they butted heads.

"We've got three guys down, the dealer, the councilman's son, and the store clerk." The murders had taken place outside a small corner grocery in Boyle Heights. "The drugs were found inside the store, behind the counter. Notes on Tomas Herrera indicate that he's been distributing out of this store for a while, the division hadn't moved on him yet because they wanted his supplier. Herrera was a middleman, small game." Sykes stood up and walked over to check out the other two bodies. "David Ramirez, now, that's the dealer. He set up shop in Boyle Heights about a year ago, from what the other detectives told me, he's been slowly taking over all the game, and they know he's got ties in East LA. He's the guy dealing this stuff all over the neighborhood, but he's got suppliers too. Still, what was he doing here? There's only a few hundred dollars in the register, time lock safe, and a few pounds of goods. Why was Ramirez here? What was he dropping off or picking up, and where is it?" Sykes shrugged, surveyed the scene again. "That's what I would be asking."

"Here that Provenza," Flynn nudged him. "I think you're finally starting to rub off on her."

They shared amused looks before they turned their attention back to the youngest member of their team, who was proving that she could be taught. "Okay Sykes, Provenza stated. "What about the other guy? Explain to us how the Councilman's kid fits in to all of this."

"Potential buyer." She shrugged. "What else would Joey Lawson be doing down here? At least, that's the inference that seems the most logical, considering the two, two ounce bags, that were found near his body. Councilman Lawson probably isn't going to like that. Has probably already heard about it." She looked beyond the detectives and shrugged. "I say that because the Captain just got here and wow… She looks mad."

The two Lieutenants turned, both of them grimaced. Sharon was striding toward them looking not at all pleased. "Does someone want to explain to me why my boss got a call from his boss, who received a call from the Mayor, upset on behalf of his friend Councilman Lawson, due to the LAPD treating the murder of his son as a drug deal gone wrong?"

Provenza looked at Flynn. Flynn pursed his lips and stared back. Both men shrugged then turned to the two senior Narcotics detectives on the scene. "Someone want to answer the Captain," Flynn stated.

"We have him, on film, walking out of the store ma'am," Stevens answered. "Bags of narcotics were found near his body."

"Jonas Lawson doesn't have any priors," Sanchez stated. "There's nothing in the system to indicate that he has ever been picked up on a drug related charge."

"Just means he's never been caught," Matthew Anderson was the second detective working the narcotics case. The other detectives from their division were on rollout for back up and scene processing.

Provenza and Flynn stepped back. Sanchez turned away. Sykes bowed her head and decided that her shoes were looking very interesting. "Let's see if I understand." Sharon's tone had taken on the softer quality it usually did right before turning to steel. "A young man killed outside a grocery, with no prior arrests, no other narcotics on his person, no weapons or indication of prior drug use… just happens to die near said narcotics, and you want me to tell his father that he just simply… never got caught before? Is that what I am hearing detectives?"

"Look." Stevens had dealt with Raydor before, back when she was still FID. "I get what you're saying, but this is what we do. Why else would a kid with an apartment in Santa Monica be walking out of a store in Boyle Heights."

"That's a very good question," Sharon stated. "Since he could have purchased the drugs found near his body anywhere between here and Santa Monica, and gotten it cheaper in Venice beach. What I'm still a little confused on, is if he bought the drugs that were found near his body, and was experienced enough at the act to not have been caught previously… why were they on the ground and not in his pocket?"

"I was wondering that myself," Flynn told his partner.

"The thought had occurred to me too. I mean, who walks around town actually carrying their recently purchased narcotics in their hands?" Provenza held up his own hands. "I mean, really. That seems awfully strange to me. What do you think?"

"Damned irregular," he agreed.

Sanchez coughed to cover his snort. "It is a little unusual."

"Hm." Sharon tilted her head. "So, the general consensus from my team," she continued to speak to Stevens, and her voice shifted, taking on the steely edge that made the hairs on the backs of the two detectives necks stand on end. "Is that Jonas Lawson having the narcotics he just purchases still in his hand, rather than otherwise secured on his person, is…." She ticked them off. "Awfully strange, a little unusual and…" She glanced at Flynn, brow raised. "Damned irregular?"

He grinned crookedly at her. "Yes ma'am." She had that supremely irritated air on, he decided she was also damned hot. Flynn tilted his head. "Very damned irregular."

"Ah." Sharon turned back to Stevens and Anderson, whom she inwardly always thought of as frick and frack. They were fast triggers and slow thinkers. She and dealt with them both before on other occasions. "Very damned irregular. Kendall…" She turned to the coroner's assistant, who was still writing up his notes. The bodies would be moved just as soon as he was finished. "Was there anything found on Jonas Lawson's body?"

Kendall flipped the pages of his clipboard and scanned his notes. "Yes ma'am, he had a package of gum and a pack of cigarettes inside his jacket pocket, there was a receipt in his pocket."

"Detective Sykes, do we have that evidence?" Sharon held out her hand for the bag.

"Right here, Captain." Sykes handed her all three, the ones containing the gum and cigarettes along with the receipt.

Sharon turned over the clear plastic holding the receipt. "Ah. Okay, so we have the purchase of the gum and the cigarettes from the store, in front of which he died. Why am I still confused?"

"Because Jonas Lawson wasn't here buying drugs, ma'am," Sanchez stated. "That we know of. It looks like he was buying gum and cigarettes."

"So he put the gum and the cigarettes in his pocket, but had the drugs in his hand?" She turned back to the narcotics team and held up the bags. "Do I have your inference correct?"

Stevens rolled his eyes. "Alright fine, there's no proof the kid was buying the drugs. Someone had those drugs."

"Someone killed our victims." She turned to her team. "We are, obviously, taking over. Narcotics can work their drug angle, the murders are ours. I'm going to need an update soon." She looked almost apologetic about that. The cases moved as fast as they moved. "I need to update my irritated boss, so that he can calm down his boss, so forth and so on, and then your boss can stop being annoyed by irresponsible blunders."

"We're going to need someone from Narcotics to work this with us," Provenza pointed out. "Bring us up to speed on their investigation up to now."

Sharon glanced back toward Stevens and Anderson. She sighed. "If you must." She looked at her watch and straightened. "I have a meeting with the SIS supervisor handling Rusty's case, DDA Rios, and Assistant Chief Taylor. I'll be needing that update afterward."

"Go on," Provenza told her. "We're quite accustomed with dealing with the blunders of our fellow departments."

"Comes from years of dealing with our own blunders," Flynn smirked at him. "Get out of here, Captain. You're making the kids nervous."

She glanced around them at several nervous looking detectives and SIS officers. Sharon smirked. "Still got it." She turned and strode away from them, back toward her car. "I'm on my cell, gentlemen."

"Interesting how she still strikes fear into the hearts of grown men all over the LAPD," Provenza observed.

"Yeah," Flynn grinned. "We'll keep her. Come on guys, let's get this wrapped up. Captain wants an update PDQ."

The squad scattered, moving back to their previous tasks, and with more haste than they used before. The Captain was mildly annoyed, they didn't want her irritated.

Which was unavoidable, Sharon was plenty irritated after the meeting with Taylor and the others. It was a progress report, and there was no progress to report. Several weeks of putting Rusty on the street had turned up nothing. All of the investigation into the letters had gotten them nowhere. Hours spent going over traffic camera footage revealed equal parts of nothing.

On top of that, Emma now knew that Sharon was trying to adopt her witness. It was not an action that she could stop, but she realized how limited her options would become when it was final. It _would_ be final. Gavin had assured her of that. They had one hearing behind them already, DCFS was not protesting the action, and the minor was not opposed. The questions was whether or not it would be final before Rusty's eighteenth birthday, or before he was forced into Witness Protection.

She would not turn his life upside down even more to satisfy Emma Rios. But to save his life, that she would do. The threats in the letters were becoming less oblique. The comments were now pointed, they were directed. There were several overtures that he would go through Sharon to get to Rusty, but in the end, Rusty was the target.

Witness protection was still off the table, however. Emma was smart enough to realize that she could put Rusty in a boarding school, but he was turning eighteen soon. He could leave. He could disappear, and then she would have lost her witness. Without him the case would unravel, and Phillip Stroh could walk. It was the _only_ reason she was letting him stay where he was.

The SIS operation was being called off. They were pulling Rusty off the street. There was too little progress to justify continuing to fund the action, or to put him at risk. They had tried, and in the end, that was all that Rusty had wanted. A chance to try.

Sharon returned to her office and was given the full report on the Narcotics investigation and how it tied into their murders. They still had to wait for Morales to finish his autopsies, but until then they were bringing in known associates. The investigation was progressing as Sharon would have expected it to so early in the case.

Despite the ongoing case, it was still one of Rusty's scheduled activity nights. It was Sanchez's turn in the rotation again. He was taking the kid to a movie, and then for food. The team had followed up on all of the leads they had, and there were a few more for them to touch on but would wait for the following day. They were still pending the results of the autopsies and tox-screens. With little else that they could do, Sharon sent everyone home.

It was a rare occasion that she had the Condo to herself. With Rusty out for the night and it being a meeting night for Flynn, Sharon realized that she would be alone for the biggest part of the night. Rusty would be in late, and depending on how he felt after the meeting, Flynn may or may not be by. He had a key, that was one of the not so minor changes which had taken place since her divorce was final. He might not be there every night, but he could slip in without waking Rusty on the nights that he did stay with her. Whether he joined her or not, he always sent a text. In any event, it would be late before she heard from him.

In years past Sharon would have curled up with a book and a glass of wine. Now it was a cup of tea and a case file. She pulled a throw blanket around her and settled down on the sofa to flip through the file. She was looking for any holes in their current case, anything that they might have missed or not considered. Sharon jotted notes on a legal pad as she read through it, ideas to go over with the team in the morning. There was a large possibility that much of it had already been considered and discarded by her team, but Sharon made the notes anyway.

She read through the case file twice before she finally put it aside and lay back on the sofa. It was still too early in their investigation to really have any concrete ideas on what had taken place on that street corner. Sharon leaned back and closed her eyes. The fingers of her left hand gently massaged the ache in her temples. She forced her thoughts away from the case, away from the letters. It was difficult, but she concentrated on thoughts of nonsensical things. She was considering another cup of tea, but felt entirely too heavy to bother getting up for it. Sharon pulled the blanket closer and wriggled into the cushions of the sofa. She hummed quietly as she lay there, enjoying the quiet. Even as much as she loved both of the guys in her life, it was nice to have an evening to herself.

Sharon realized that she must have dozed, when the soft chiming of her phone jolted her awake again. She reached for it, laying on the coffee table, and blinked at how bright the display seemed. She swept her thumb across the display and found two texts, Rusty checking in, the other from Andy. Sharon smiled. They had missed the first showing of the movie, so they'd gone for dinner. Sanchez was taking him to the later viewing, so he would be a little later than planned. It was only a forty-five minute difference, but he didn't want her to worry. Sharon still marveled at times like this just how far Rusty had come in the last two years. She keyed back a quick reply, telling him to have fun. Then she moved on to Andy. His was the text that woke her. He'd be by in two hours. Sharon glanced at her watch and smiled. It wasn't too late. She told him to bring dinner and rolled off the sofa.

After her work was packed away she walked down the hall and decided there was time enough left for her to enjoy the rest of her quiet evening. She ran a bath. While it was filling, Sharon turned on music, low strains of classical piano to filter through her room to the master bath. She checked the tub while she pinned her hair up. The large, round tub had been the selling fact on the condo when she bought it. Her children were grown, and the house that she raised them in was just too large for her alone, and Jackson's name was on the note. Selling it had further separated their finances, and she felt less lonely in the condo with Katie so recently off to New York. That was a few years ago, and now, even with Rusty she still didn't regret the action. That big 'ol house would have still been too much for just the two of them, and as an added bonus she didn't have to miss her bathroom.

Sharon bent down to check the water in the tub, she needed her robe she thought, straightening. She reached to pull her sweater over her head, but noise in the outer room drew her attention and she stopped. Sharon reached down and turned the water off, then she inclined her head, straining to hear over the music. "Andy?" She straightened and strode toward the living room. "I thought you said two hours…" Sharon stepped out of her bedroom and face to face with the barrel of a gun. Her stomach clenched tightly. Air rushed out of her lungs.

"I'm not Andy. Hello, Sharon. I told you I was coming…"


	14. Chapter 14

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 14

There was only a single officer on the door tonight. He noticed that when he walked past, carrying his trash toward the chute. It wasn't one of the plain clothes guards. This one was uniformed. Rusty wasn't home. That meant it was only _her_. Sharon was home alone, unless her Lieutenant was with her. He dropped the bag down the chute and walked back the way that he had come. When he was past Sharon's condo, he kept going, around the corner, further down the hall. Then he slipped out the emergency exit and down the stairs, back to the ninth floor. To the condo he was residing in at present.

He moved quickly through his rooms, to gaze out the window at the cars parked below. He did not see a familiar sedan. That might not mean anything. He left the condo and headed downstairs. He would do a circuit around the building, see if he spotted Andy's car. The Lieutenant was a creature of habit, he always parked in the same place.

While on his stroll, he noted the patrol car. It was just the one tonight, and only the single officer. That was going to be fortunate. The Lieutenant was also not around. It was going to be a good night.

He was smiling as he walked back to the building. All of his planning, his patience, had finally paid off. Glee filled him, making him almost giddy as he rode the elevator back upstairs. He had to force himself to calm while he gathered his things. Energy was coursing through him, and he almost panted with it. After tonight he would be one step closer. One step closer to having his life back.

He gathered his bag and drew it over his shoulder. It was just a laptop case, completely inconspicuous looking. Smiling, he walked back up the stairs to the eleventh floor. He let himself in through the stairwell entry and took several deep breaths to calm himself. Now that the moment was at hand, his heart was fluttering wildly. He ran a hand over his face, through his hair. He smoothed down his clothing and breathed slowly, settling himself.

He was ready.

He walked down the hall, around the corner and nodded to the patrol officer watching the Captain's door. The officer nodded back, looking bored. Another resident. Just another resident walking past. He smiled when his back was to the officer. Then he turned, so quickly that the young man was jerking on the floor before he realized there was a taser in his hand. He held it, for several moments until the officer stopped jerking. When he didn't move, he bent over him to check. Still alive. Well, the officer wasn't really who he wanted anyway. He needed to move quickly, though. So he knelt with his bag and opened it. Duct tape, around his wrists, feet, and mouth. Then he grabbed him beneath his arms and began dragging him. It was harder than he thought it would be, and he grunted with the effort. Beads of sweat broke out across his brow. He huffed and he heaved, swore quietly, but he pulled the unconscious officer down the hall and around the corner. He tucked him into the rarely used stairwell, out of the way.

After wiping his brow, he walked back down the hall and retrieved his bag. He listened at the door. The condo sounded quiet. He knelt in front of the door and reached into his bag, pulling out the lock tools. He had practiced this on his own door a number of times. It was one of the reasons he had sublet in the building. It put him close to Rusty, close to keeping an eye on the people who had ruined his life.

That was why he was able to slip the tools in so quietly. It only took two turns, a simple twist, and the first lock was open. He moved to the second, harder lock, the deadbolt. That was a little more difficult, but he managed it after only a few seconds. If this condo was just like his, then there was also a chain. He eased the door open slowly, and smiled. The Captain did not disappoint him. He took the small cutters out of his bag and reached up, easily dispatching the chain. It made more noise than he liked, but with the door cracked open, he could hear the strains of classical playing inside.

He exhaled when he was inside. His heart fluttered again. He could feel the anticipation curling in his stomach. He put his bag down and reached inside it one final time. He took out the gun. Then he started down the hall.

He might have made more noise than he intended. His eyes widened with the Captain stepped out of what he gathered must be her room, given it was the location of the music. His palm itched. The muscles in his arm strained and twitched where he held the gun, pointed directly at her. He drew a breath, smiled slightly. She had called out, thinking he was her Lieutenant.

"I'm not Andy. Hello, Sharon. I told you I was coming…" He smiled at her, in her bare feet, hair pinned up in a clip, with her sweater and leggings, she didn't seem quite so imposing.

Sharon drew a breath. She stared down the barrel of the gun, over the hand holding it. "Douglas Grand."

He was not at all who they expected. On their list of subjects they had focused on those who had a connection to Stroh, people that might have had reason to put Rusty out of the way, to stop his testimony. It never occurred to anyone that it would be the other _witness_. The man with Rusty in the park the night he saw Stroh burying the body. Yes, she thought now, she supposed Grand might have very good reason to stop Rusty testifying. Since he was also subpoena to corroborate the events of that night. Grand put Rusty in the park. Rusty put Stroh there. Rusty tied everything together, but Grand was a very important piece of that. Sharon thought that certain offers had been made to secure Grand's testimony, and so no one had thought to look into him when they began receiving the letters.

It was a mistake. Obviously.

"Yes," Douglas smiled. There was madness behind his eyes. "That boy ruined my life. Your _chief_, that woman. That… she promised me that I wouldn't have to tell anyone why I was there. All I had to do was find Rusty. Give Rusty to the police, and I was done. It was over. But that didn't happen, did it? I got charged with solicitation. My wife found out. She took my kids. I lost my job. Then I get told that I have to testify? I have to tell everyone what I was doing in that park, and how I knew that Rusty was the witness. My _whole life!_ It all went away. I lost everything!"

Sharon swallowed hard. She stepped back, just an inch. He jerked the gun up and she stopped. "You did. I understand," she said quietly. "But none of this was Rusty's doing. He's just a boy…"

"He told me he was eighteen!" Douglas shook the gun at her. "Legal! He wasn't supposed to be a boy!" He pointed at her with his other hand. "I could have handled Rusty. I could have scared him. He doesn't do well with pressure. He wouldn't have testified, except there was this one little problem. You." He glowered at her, eyes dark, chest rising and falling. He was working himself into a state. He tried to calm down, but now standing in front of her, his anger grew. "You just couldn't get out of the way could you? You couldn't leave well enough alone. It wasn't bad enough that you have to go meddling around at work, now you're meddling with my life. You had to screw everything up. You wouldn't leave Rusty alone. You just had to hold on to him."

"He's a child," Sharon glanced around them. The hall was small, confined. Her gun was already in the bedside table, where she kept it when at home. The bedroom door was just behind her. There was room enough, she thought, between the door and the dresser, that she might avoid a bullet if she made that move. It was the only chance. Otherwise it was over. She had already inched back, moving by small degrees to avoid being struck in the face as he gestured with the gun toward her. Sharon reached out, slowly, until her fingers brushed the cool wood of the door frame.

"He deserved a stable home," she continued speaking. "Fear ruled his life long enough. Rusty shouldn't be held accountable for the mistakes of others."

"No." Douglas smiled at her. "No, maybe he shouldn't. But Rusty isn't going to be your problem anymore."

Sharon grabbed the door frame and used it to pull herself into the room. Her ears rang with the sound of the gunshot. The bullet struck the opposite side of the door, causing wood to splinter. Sharon's feet slipped against the bare, hardwood, her knee struck the corner of the dresser when she propelled into it. She saw stars but reached for the lamp, and twisted when Douglas lunged into the room behind her. She aimed it at his gun hand, striking hard. The gun clattered out of his hand, and slid across the floor toward the bathroom door.

She lunged toward the bed and Douglas roared, he lunged for her. They both landed hard, just shy of her goal. His hands clawed, grasped painfully at her. Sharon kicked him. She swung her feet hard, striking his chest, his stomach, anything she could land a blow against. She drug her hands against the floor, pulling herself toward the bed and the table beside it. Her foot landed against his face and she felt something crunch. Douglas howled.

Sharon's fingers brushed the cool, bras fittings of the drawer. They only barely curled around it and she jerked, pulling the drawer out, off its runners. It landed, scraping against the hard wood floor. Contents fell out, rolling and scattering, disappearing beneath the bed. The entire table had rocked, threatening to fall over, but landed hard back against the wall and was still. Several items fell from its top, a frame, sending glass shards across the floor as well. Her hand closed around the holster and she rolled onto her back, freeing the gun from it while her thumb slipped off the safety. She saw stars, red, and white hot stars when something sharp lanced through her. She cried out in pain but double tapped her trigger.

Douglas Grand jerked back, the force of the gunshots pushing him to one side. One struck his shoulder, the other lower, right of his chest. The knife in his hand fell to the floor, and he slumped, gurgling and wheezing for air.

Sharon pushed back, sliding further from him, across broken glass. A hand moved to her side and came away stained red. He had managed to cut her, and realization of that brought stinging cuts on her arms and leg into focus as well. He'd had the knife when he lunged for her. Those were superficial, annoying, but not a danger. She kept her eye on Douglas as she felt around, searching for the phone which had been on the bedside table. When she didn't find it, she took her eyes off Douglas to search for it. The phone wasn't readily visible. She slid further away from him and bent, moaning with the effort, and spotted it beneath the bed. It was too far out of her reach.

With the stain on her side quickly spreading, she moved to her knees and rose on shaking legs. The combination of adrenaline and injury made her unsteady. Her knee was throbbing. Her attacker was still wheezing, but he wasn't moving. Sharon limped around him, giving him as wide a berth as the room would allow and moved toward the door. Her arm shook, but she continued to aim the gun at him. When she reached the door, she had to lean against it. The knife had sliced her more deeply than she thought, her head was beginning to spin. Her cell phone was still by the sofa, closer than the phone in the kitchen. Heaving a pain filled sigh, Sharon pushed off the door and started down the hall.


	15. Chapter 15

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 15

"I still don't get it," Rusty said to Sanchez when they stepped out of the elevator. "How is that not better than the original? Those special effects were amazing."

"It's RoboCop," Sanchez stated. "Some classics should not be messed with. It was a good movie, decent explosions, but I like the other one better."

"I don't know." Rusty shrugged. "I think I've only seen it once, and I don't remember a lot about it. I think it was okay, but I liked this one."

"You're young," Sanchez smirked as they rounded the corner, but it faded. The hall was empty. There should have been a uniformed officer on duty. He frowned. It didn't seem likely that the Captain would have dismissed her protection detail. "Was the Captain going out tonight?" Maybe she wasn't home.

"No, I don't think so." Rusty thought about it. "She didn't say anything about it. She usually tells me." He pulled out his phone to check for a text. The last thing he had from Sharon was her telling him to have fun.

"Huh." Sanchez wasn't sure why he felt odd about it. The Captain didn't tell Rusty she was going out, and he knew for a fact that Flynn went to meetings on Thursday nights. If she was out, she wasn't with him. "Hey, Rusty, do me a favor. Let me see your key."

"Yeah sure…" Rusty handed it to him with a frown. Sanchez was acting odd all of a sudden. He'd gone stiff, like at work. He watched the detective reach for the door and turn the lock. It gave way and the door pushed open. Rusty felt cold suddenly. "Sharon wouldn't leave the door unlocked."

"No, I don't think she would either." Sanchez gave Rusty back his keys and held out a hand, indicating he should wait. Sanchez eased the door open and looked in side. Music was playing, that indicated someone had been at home. Sanchez reached behind him to the gun tucked into the back waist of his jeans. "Hey, Rusty, stay here. I'm going to check it out. Maybe Flynn got home early and, you know. You don't want to see that."

"Saw enough of that, actually," Rusty stood with his back against the wall beside the door. He focused on the opposite side of the hall. His hands felt damp, he rubbed them against his jeans. There was something in the air, something heavy and dark. It made his heart beat faster and his stomach roll with a thick, uneasy feeling.

"Right, so stay here. You two…" He pointed at the two officers that made up Rusty's security. "Your eyes do not leave him. He does not move from this spot." When he had their acknowledgement, he moved forward. Sanchez scanned the entry way. When he saw that the chain was cut, he pulled the gun and held it against the side of his leg. "Captain, it's Detective Sanchez. Ma'am, are you home?" He called out, hoping for an answer. His head inclined, listening for any sound. All her heard was the music playing. His eyes swept the living room as he walked quietly into the condo. Sanchez glanced down the hall, and that was when his gut twisted painfully.

The captain was slumped against the wall, head bowed, and not moving. The large red stain stood out in contrast to the pale green sweater, and smeared in a downward arch against the wall, indicating that she had, at one point been on her feet. Sanchez's jaw clenched tightly. The first instinct was to rush forward, but training held him back. He lifted his gun and swept the outer rooms of the apartment first. He checked every corner before his feet drew him down the hall. They felt heavy, and he thought of Rusty waiting in the hall and swore quietly when he knelt beside his captain.

"Ma'am?" He was silently hoping for some visual sign of life. Her gun was laying beside her, hand still covering it. Sanchez reached out, feather light touch as he pushed her hair aside and laid his fingers against her neck. Relief so thick he wanted to cry swept over him with the steady thrumming against his fingers. She moved, drawing in a breath, and mumbled something. "It's okay, Ma'am, I've got you." He lifted the arm draped over her side and winced. The cut was deep and several inches long. Sanchez set his gun on the floor beside him and shrugged out of his jacket. He pulled his t-shirt off, leaving him in just the plain white muscle shirt he wore underneath. He folded it over twice and pressed it against her side.

Sharon hissed. She hummed in pain, and shook her head in an attempt to clear it. "Bedroom," she said again, more loudly. Her head felt too heavy, as did the rest of her. "Julio…" It was a struggle to stay awake. "Rusty?"

"Waiting in the hall ma'am." He tipped her head back against the wall, looked into her eyes. "I'm going to check the bedroom. Is Lieutenant Flynn here?"

"No," she sucked in another breath. Her side ached, she supposed that was a good thing. "Meeting… then here."

"Good. Good, okay Ma'am." Sanchez lay her arm across the makeshift bandage to hold it in place before he curled his fingers around his gun and stood up. He put his shoulder against the opposite wall and walked slowly toward the first open bedroom door. There was blood smeared on the frame, marking that as the room she was trying to tell him about. His gun swept the room when he looked inside. He found one perp down, in a puddle of blood. Sanchez nudged the figure's leg with his foot. He didn't move. He scanned the floor, saw the knife. He kicked it farther away and then used his foot to push the subject over. He recognized the guy. Hadn't seen that one coming. "You came after the wrong lady, pervert." Julio identified two bullet holes and knelt down to get a pulse. He didn't feel one. He felt some grim satisfaction in that, but the Captain wouldn't. Sanchez stood up and reached for his phone. He still needed to sweep the rest of the condo, he did that while he dialed for back up.

He checked the bathroom, found another gun on the floor. Then he stepped back into the hall and moved toward Rusty's room and the secondary bathroom, then the small laundry room that was really more of a closet. "This is Detective Julio Sanchez, Major Crimes division," He he spoke to the dispatch officer, gave her his badge number. "I need units and two ambulances at the following address. I have shots fired and an officer down." Satisfied at the emptiness of the rest of the rooms, Julio walked back into the hall. Movement at the end of the hall had his gun raising again.

He and Flynn stood, guns pointed at one another. Seconds ticked by as they realized who they were looking at. Sanchez lowered his first. "It's clear," he said. He followed the other man's gaze. He was pale, ashen. His arm fell limply to his side as he made the same, first heavy walk down the hall that Sanchez had made earlier. "She's alive." Julio could spare him that at least. "Bus is on its way. The other guy isn't. She got his ass."

"Of course she did." Flynn knelt down, cupped her face. "You've seen her shoot before. Was there any doubt?" For that one terrifying moment he had a glimpse of life without her. Finding Rusty in the hall, pale, eyes dark with panic, and not even capable of speaking had knocked the air out of him. Seeing Sharon slumped in the hall, bloody, and not moving, had nearly felled him completely. "Hey babe, you want to open those eyes." He saw them flutter, she was trying. "Come on, sweetheart, let me see you. Sanchez, can you…"

"I have Rusty." He strode quickly back to the door. The kid was slumped, sitting. He looked up, terror on his face, tears in his eyes. His guards had positioned themselves only a few paces from him, one on each end of the hall.

"Is she dead?" His stomach twisted painfully, and he thought he might lose his dinner. Rusty inhaled deeply. "Just tell me if she's dead, I don't want to hear the rest of it. The stuff you normally tell people… the fam—families." He bit his lip hard, bruising it.

"She's not." Sanchez knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder. "She's hurt. It's pretty bad, but she's alive. Rusty, it's over." He held the kid steady, pressed him against the wall as an anchor. "The guy… I think he was your letter writer. She got him. He's dead."

"Who…" Rusty saw bright spots behind his eyes. She was alive. It kept echoing in his head. Hurt. Sharon was hurt. She was alive. "Who was it?"

"Douglas Grand." Sanchez saw no need in lying to the kid. The kid tried to get up and he held him back. "No, Rusty. Just stay here. Trust me. Don't get up yet. Just breathe a minute." He took his phone back out and began dialing again. "Sir, it's Sanchez…" He kept an eye on Rusty while he filled Provenza in on what they'd found.

By the time he was off the phone with Provenza, the first officers were arriving. Sanchez lifted his badge. "I'm LAPD. Inside there is another LAPD detective, he is with the victim. This is her residence. She is an LAPD captain, you'll find the suspect in the master bedroom, dead." The officers eyes fell to Rusty. "This is the Captain's son. He's unharmed." Sanchez stood up slowly. "There was supposed to be a patrol officer on this door. I want to know what happened! I want every inch of this building checked. Do you understand me? You speak to everyone. You open every door. Do you got me Donnelly?" Sanchez recognize most of the officers, and they him. He was getting angry now. Now that he could afford to get angry, he was letting himself feel it. "Some asshole came in here and hurt my Captain. I want to know where the hell her protection is."

It was while Sanchez was busy yelling at the uniforms that Rusty made his move to get into the apartment. He crawled on his hands and knees to the door and then stumbled inside on his feet. He was struck, at first, by how absolutely normal the place looked. Then he saw Flynn in the hall, bent over a familiar dark head. "Sharon? Oh god. Sharon!"

"Rusty, damnit." Sanchez caught him and pulled him back. "You cannot go in there." He wrapped his arms around his torso and pulled him back.

"Let go of me!" Rusty struggled. "Sharon!"

The kid was skinny but he was strong. Sanchez pulled him out into the hall, grunting the entire way. "Rusty, you have to stay out here." He pushed the kid up against the wall again, this time with his arm stretched across his chest, under his neck. "Stop fighting!" Julio got in his face, yelling loudly, like he did with suspects to get their attention. When Rusty stopped, he lowered his voice. "You can't go in there, Rusty, because it's a crime scene now. Okay? They're going to bring her out. The paramedics will come, and they will bring her out. But you can't go in there. I'm sorry, but I have to secure the scene. Do you understand?"

He was breathing hard, but he nodded. Rusty forced down the bile that had risen in his throat. "You promise she's alive?"

"She's alive," Sanchez said again. "It looks bad, I know. She was talking, Rusty. She was able to tell me where to look and to ask about you. That's a good thing." The kid needed facts. It usually calmed him down when they gave him cold, hard, facts. "He cut her. It was deep, and it looked like maybe she got a little banged struggling with him." Sanchez nodded to the paramedics coming down the hall. "See, they're here already. When they put her in the ambulance, I'll put you in a car, I'll send you with her. Okay?"

"Okay," Rusty breathed. "Okay," he said again. "I'm…" Rusty nodded. "I'm sorry. I just…" He pushed his hands into his hair. "This is my fault."

"No," Julio said firmly. "No it isn't. Grand screwed up. He did it when he decided to pick you up on Sunset Boulevard. He screwed up again when he took the coward's way out and instead of trying to learn from his mistake, he decided to scare you and come after the Captain. It's on him, Rusty. Not you. You made your mistakes. They weren't part of this."

"That's what Sharon says." Rusty said quietly.

"Yeah well, start listening to here," Julio told him. There were other officers arriving, uniforms and SIS. Buzz walked up with his camera, looking shaken.

"The Lieutenant called me." Buzz shrugged. "It's an OIS, but… he wanted me here. He's on his way."

"It's going to be complicated," Sanchez agreed. Major Crimes couldn't work the scene because it was their Captain. FID would have similar conflict of interest.

"He was going to call Chief Taylor," Buzz said. "Rusty, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He nodded slowly. He was staring at the floor. "I'm just… waiting."

"Paramedics are inside," Sanchez explained. "Soon as they leave with the Captain, you can start filming."

"Right." The three of them fell silent. It didn't seem there was anything else that could be said.

It felt like it took forever before the paramedics started through the door with the gurney. Rusty jolted again, but Julio was ready. He kept an arm on his shoulder. Strapped down, covered with a blanked, and with an oxygen mask covering her face, Sharon had never looked so small. He made a noise, lost somewhere between a whimper and a sob.

Flynn was behind them, he stopped in front of Rusty. "She's stable." It took everything to stand there. To not follow the gurney into the elevator. The sharp ache in his chest had not eased or stopped. His stomach twisted when he looked at the kid. "Come on…" He jerked his head at Rusty. "You're with me."

"You're not…" Rusty looked confused. "You aren't going with her?" It almost seemed crazy to him.

"Are you kidding me?" Flynn shook his head. "Look, kid, if I leave you here she'll kick my ass. You're comin' with me." He put a hand on Rusty's shoulder and pulled him forward. "We'll take my car, once we know how she really is, we'll call the other two."

Buzz and Sanchez watched them go. When they disappeared around the corner, Buzz looked at Sanchez. "Ready?"

"No." Julio sighed. "Guess we need to do it anyway."

They were both reluctant to step into the condo, but they went… and in the course of filming and investigating, they tried to keep SIS from trashing it too thoroughly or invading their Captain's privacy beyond what was absolutely necessary.

Lieutenant Provenza arrived a few minutes after the Captain was taken away, hot on his heels were Assistant Chief Taylor, Lieutenant Monroe and Sergeant Elliot, both of FID.

"Sanchez," Provenza called him over. "What do we know?"

Julio moved down the short hall, skirting the bandages that the medics had left littering the floor, and joined them in the living room. "Sirs." He nodded to each of them. "Uniforms found Officer Scott in the stairwell. He was unconscious and bound. It looked like he had been tazered. He and the Captain have both been taken to Cedars." Julio took them down the hall. "Okay so… the chain was cut. In the bag," he nodded to it near the hall entry, "they found lock picking tools. Looks like he used those to get around the rest of it. The Captain was back here. When I arrived, there was music playing."

They stopped outside the bedroom. The body had not been touched. They were still waiting on Kendall, or someone else from the Medical Examiner's office. "Good lord," Taylor muttered.

Sanchez followed his gaze to the blood smearing the door frame and the wall. "It's the Captain's, sir. She was cut pretty badly." He stepped into the room and stopped. He pointed to his left, toward the open bathroom door. "Water in the tub, music playing, I don't think she heard him enter, not at first. The water was off when I got here, so I don't know. She might have heard something, gone to check. She knew that Rusty would be late, he sent her a text that we caught a later movie. Lieutenant Flynn goes to the AA meeting at the church near his place on Thursdays… but she was expecting him. Anyway," Sanchez continued. He pointed at the frame. "Bullet hole and casing in the hall. He missed the Captain, and they struggled here. It looks like she hit him with the lamp. She had her gun with her, we'll probably find that the one on the floor there," he pointed to it, "is the suspect's. So they struggle, the Captain was able to get her gun, double tapped. One in the shoulder, one in the chest. We think the blood there," he walked over and indicated the smear near the bed, "is hers. We found the phone under the bed. It's too far out of reach, so I think she tried to make it to the living room. We found a cell phone by the sofa. It looks like the Captain's."

Taylor was nodding slowly. "That's what we think happened, detective. What do we _know_?"

Sanchez nodded. That was his preliminary report on the scene. Now for the official. "When I got here with Rusty, it seemed odd that the officer wasn't on the door. I didn't think the Captain would get rid of her protection detail, not after the last few letters. She's been really adamant about Rusty having someone on him all the time and busting his chain for ditching them those first few times. It didn't seem like her." Sanchez gestured with his notepad to the hall. "I tried the door and found it unlocked. I heard the music, and was hoping Lieutenant Flynn skipped his meeting. I asked Rusty to wait in the hall, while I checked it out, just in case. I found the Captain in the hall, injured, and the suspect dead. Lieutenant Flynn arrived as I was clearing the rest of the apartment." The Detective shrugged. "After that, I was in the hall, with Rusty. We felt it was important to keep him out of the apartment. Lieutenant Flynn stayed inside with the Captain until the paramedics arrived. But he did tell the uniforms that the Captain normally keeps her gun in the table by the bed when she is home." He shifted, uncomfortably, because now they were getting into that mirky area where they started invading the Captain's privacy. They all knew how Flynn would know that, but it wasn't discussed openly, not at work anyway. They were now straddling that gray line where work was personal.

"Okay, alright." Provenza nodded. "Thank you, Julio. That's enough. Why don't you join Buzz outside."

"Lieutenant," Taylor turned to the FID officer. "What do you want to do?" There was a Federal mandate on officer involved shootings that he couldn't override.

He and Elliot shared a look. They felt just as helpless. "We still have to work it as an OIS. It's pushing the line, but she isn't our boss anymore. I don't think we have a conflict of interest. Unfortunately, Captain Raydor is the one that I would check with…" Even now, after her transfer.

"This is what we're going to do," Taylor decided. "FID and SIS will handle this," he could see Provenza gearing up to protest. "I understand the delicacy of the situation, but had the Captain not put two in the suspect who broke into her home, I would let Major Crimes proceed. We're in a tough position here, Lieutenant. I cannot undermine a federal mandate. However…" Taylor's voice rose. "We are talking about an LAPD Captain, and so I expect both FID and SIS to walk the line. This case will be treated with respect. Am I clear?"

Monroe nodded. He would have it no other way. "Yes sir."

"You don't have to worry," Elliot directed it toward Provenza. "We get it." Officially there might not be a conflict of interest due to her transfer, but she was still one of theirs.

Provenza wasn't thrilled. "Julio, Buzz," he started toward the hall. "Let's go. Major Crimes isn't working this one." He hadn't expected they would, but it was worth a try. It was why he had sent Tao and Sykes to Cedars. "If we're needed," he tossed back over his shoulder, "We'll be at the hospital."

Buzz with his camera, and Sanchez with his hands in his pockets followed him out of the condo. The three men were silent until they stepped into the elevator. "Julio," Provenza spoke quietly. "What do you really think happened?"

Sanchez drew a breath. "I don't know, sir. He surprised her. Probably because she thought he was Lieutenant Flynn. After that, all I know is… she kicked his ass, sir."

"That she did," Provenza shook his head. "That she most definitely did."


	16. Chapter 16

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 16

The hospital waiting room was quiet. There were only faint, murmured conversations. Tao had arrived with his wife, the pair bringing coffee for everyone. Sykes sat near them, cradling her cup and staring at the floor. They had been waiting for almost an hour, so far there had been no word. Team would occasionally exchange looks, cast worried glances toward Rusty or Flynn, but remained, for the most part, silent.

The surprising addition to the group had been Emma Rios. She had arrived ten minutes after the others, in jogging pants and a hoody, with her hair pulled back, looking flushed and concerned. She now sat in a corner, her phone in her hands while she kept tabs on the investigation for the team.

The silence was good. Flynn wasn't sure that he could handle the noise, or the questions, the quiet platitudes. It was hard to say if it was fortunate or not, but their team had enough experience being in this situation that they didn't try. He sat, leaning forward, with his arms braced on his knees. His hands hung limply between them. They had long since been washed, but they still felt sticky from the blood that had seeped through Sanchez's t-shirt. When he closed his eyes he saw her sitting there, slumped against the wall, and his heart constricted painfully again.

Flynn stood up, he pushed his hands into his pockets and circled the room. He needed to move. The longer he sat, the more the tightly the hot ball of emotion within him wound, threatening to snap. He was both worried and furious. Mostly at himself for leaving her alone, but at all of them for not seeing any of it before it happened. He was furious at the situation, but mostly he was sick with worry. He couldn't will them to come through the doors and tell them anything, but he was giving it ten minutes and then he was going in. If he had to put his gun in a doctor's face to get an update, he would do it. Then at least, maybe, he wouldn't feel so damned useless.

Caged tiger and coiled snake, both images came to mind for Provenza as he watched his partner pace. He knew Flynn's temper, and he could see it slowly working toward an outburst. He was moving toward the very limit of his patience and Provenza wasn't sure he could pull him back. There was a part of him that didn't want to, they had been waiting long enough. Turn Flynn loose on them and maybe they would get some answers. He saw Sanchez tracking the other man's movements as well, they exchanged a look. Sanchez nodded. He could trust Julio to jump in if it became necessary. Provenza leaned his head back again and glanced beside him at Rusty. The kid was too silent, that worried him more than Flynn's temper.

"Raydor?" The doctor had appeared, startling them all.

Flynn turned, while the rest of the team stood up. Emma joined them when they circled around him. Provenza had tapped Rusty's knee and nodded him over as well. Then he made sure to maneuver Rusty to the front of the crowd.

"Is anyone here family," the doctor was a tall man in his forties, his hair was thinning and just beginning to gray. He scanned the group, and noticed the badges. Sometimes with the police department the line between family and colleague got blurred, so he stressed the word.

"Uh, yeah…" Rusty shuffled when Provenza nudged him. "That's me. I'm uh… yeah." He felt slightly sick. The knot in his stomach had only gotten larger since arriving at the condo earlier. "H-how is she?"

"Stable," the doctor, whose name tag read Davis, turned his attention on the teenager. "Rusty, I'm Doctor Davis. We've ruled out any major organ or vessel damage. The main injury was the cut to her left side, it was deep and she lost a lot of blood. We've gotten some fluids into her and we're working on a second unit of blood. There were also some more minor lacerations and mild bruising to her knee. All of which has been treated. Right now, you'll be glad to know that she is awake. She's asking about a Rusty, I'm guessing that must be you?"

He almost fell over, the force of his relieved exhalation shook his entire body. He noticed similar reactions from the other, and Flynn was gripping his partner's shoulder, head bowed. Rusty nodded. "That's me. I'm… I'm Rusty, she's really okay?"

Doctor Davis flashed a reassuring smile. "Come and see for yourself. I can have one at a time back here, and we'll be moving her to a room soon."

Rusty started forward and stopped. He looked back at Flynn, suddenly unsure. "I…"

"Go ahead kid," Flynn nodded. "We can wait."

He nodded quietly and let the doctor lead him through the double doors. He pushed his hands into his pockets as he followed, looking around him with wide eyes as they moved through a maze of halls and cubicles. The doctor lead him past a main monitoring station and toward a closed door. Rusty felt like he was walking through mud as they approached.

Doctor Davis pushed the door open for him and stood back. "Try to let her rest as much as possible."

Rusty nodded. He shuffled quietly into the room and jolted slightly when the door clicked shut behind him. The oxygen mask was gone, and she didn't seem quite so pale as she had earlier. She was still very small looking, and the hospital gown was not her color. Rusty understood now why she wore such dark colors. Or maybe hospital gowns just looked bad on everyone. They had her knee in a brace and elevated, but she was otherwise covered by blankets and aside from the IV in one hand, and the bandage around her upper arm on the other side, she seemed otherwise okay.

His hands fisted in his pockets as he moved closer. Her eyes were closed and he didn't want to wake her, not if she was sleeping. Rusty looked around the room, there were monitors in the corner, beeping quietly. He watched the numbers on them, and guessed they were normal. On a tray in the corner were her clothes. They were in a clear bag. Her glasses were laying on the tray beside them, and Rusty picked them up. He knew she would need those.

"Rusty."

It made him jump. He turned, and found her watching him. Rusty blinked, clearing his own wide-eyed expression. "I thought you were sleeping." He held up her glasses and walked toward her. "Here. These might help."

"Thank you, honey." Sharon accepted the glasses, but winced at the pain the movement caused. "Are you okay?"

Rusty gave her an incredulous look. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He looked around the room, then back at her. "Yeah, pretty sure that was my line. Sharon, you're the one in the hospital. Those must be some awesome drugs."

"Hm." Her eyes closed for a moment and she smiled. "Well, if that attitude is anything for me to judge by, I think you're fine." She forced them open again and blinked a few times. Yes, the pain medication they had given her was making her drowsy. She was also a little woozy from the blood loss. "I'm serious, Rusty. How are you?"

"So am I." He folded his arms over his chest. "Sharon, I'm fine. You're like… _not_." His jaw clenched and he looked down. That was sort of the problem.

"Rusty." She reached out, despite what it cost her to move, and managed to touch the side of his leg. "I'm okay. Honey, I don't want you to worry about me. I am going to be just fine. More than that, I think you're going to be okay now too. Everything is still plenty fuzzy," she waved a hand in front of her. "But I think it's over."

"Yeah," Rusty blew out a breath. "You… uh… he's dead. The guy that you shot, he didn't… Detective Sanchez said that he was dead." He pushed his hands into his hair. "God, Sharon. We thought you were dead."

"It was a dangerous situation, Rusty. I very nearly could have been. It's okay for you to feel upset about that. It's okay for you to feel relieved. If you feel like you need to speak to Doctor Joe, I want you to call him, do you understand? Or you can speak to me, Lieutenant Provenza, Buzz… Rusty, do you understand?"

"Yes." He nodded slowly. "I will."

"Let me hear you say it again," she gave him a small smile.

Rusty chuckled quietly. "Yeah, you're really okay." He shook his head. "I will. I will talk about it, and I understand how important that is."

"Good." She settled back again. "I apologize, Rusty, but I'm really feeling very heavy right now."

"You're high," He grinned. The knot in his stomach was slowly beginning to loosen, but his world was still a little off its axis. "Sharon… I'm really glad you're okay and everything, but you are totally toked right now."

She smiled at him and let her eyes close. "It's the morphine."

"Obviously." Rusty reached down and touched her hand. "I was really scared," he said when her eyes opened again. "I still am. I was really afraid that I was going to lose you. I kept thinking that it was all my fault, that if I had just gone to boarding school none of this would have happened."

She turned her hand over and gripped his. "You are not responsible for any of this. I want you to keep that in mind. Nothing that has happened is your fault. Okay?"

"Yes," Rusty nodded. "I sort of understand that. It's just hard. I didn't want anyone to get hurt, and I really didn't want it to be you, Sharon."

"It's okay to feel that way, Rusty. Just so long as you understand that you couldn't have stopped this. You didn't cause it, and you couldn't have prevented it." She gripped his hand tightly. "I love you, remember that. Alright?"

"I know." He managed a small smile, only looking away when the moisture in his eyes threatened to fall. He blinked quickly, and then wiped a hand across his eyes. "I love you too, Sharon."

"I know," she returned his smile before letting go of his hand and closing her eyes again.

"Hey, Sharon…" He disturbed her again and felt really bad about it. "I'm going to let some of the others come back and see you too. Like, _everyone_ is here, and I think Lieutenant Flynn was seriously close to tearing this place apart a little while ago. The doctor said we could only come back one at a time so…"

Her lips curled, but her eyes closed again. It was really hard to keep them open. "Thank you, Rusty."

He watched her for another moment or two before he moved toward the door. Outside the room he looked around, reorienting himself. He hadn't really paid a lot of attention on his way there. It took the signs directing him back to the waiting room for him to find his way back to the team.

Everyone was still there, and when he pushed through the doors, they all looked up at him with expectant expressions. None so much as Flynn. "She's okay." He walked over to rejoin him and Lieutenant Provenza. "She is totally more worried about me, so she was fine. I think she's feeling a little better now and, I figured you kind of wanted to see her too so…" Rusty shrugged. "They gave her morphine so she's a little loopy."

Andy nodded silently and stood up. "Thanks kid." He clasped Rusty's shoulder as he moved past him.

"She's in 3, it's across from the nurses station," Rusty called after him. He sat down in the seat that Flynn had abandoned and let out a long, heavy sigh. "When do you think they will let us back into the condo?"

Provenza gave him a surprised look. "A couple of days, probably. Why?"

"Well…" Rusty sat up in his chair. "Her clothes were all bloody and they cut them off of her. She's going to need some things. You know?"

Provenza nodded slowly. "Right… right… hey, Sykes." He dug around for his wallet and then he opened it. The members of his squad were staring at him. Provenza never opened his wallet for anything. He took out several bills, then thought better of it and pulled out a credit card. He handed it to the young detective. "Go find an open store, it will be a couple of days before anyone can get into the Captain's place. She'll need… you know…" He waved a hand at her. "Whatever it is you females need."

Sykes looked down at him, brows raised and a smile tugging at her lips. "Yes sir. I think there's a Target nearby that should still be open." She hurried away before he could change his mind.

"Sykes," he called after her. "Rusty will need a few items too. Might as well take care of it." When the others exchanged looks and smiles, Provenza huffed. "Don't look at me like that. I'm going to be billing Taylor for it, believe me."

"Yes sir," Sanchez was grinning. "Of course, sir." They all knew otherwise, but no one would say a word about it.

Back in the Emergency Room, Flynn had located Sharon easily enough. He slipped quietly into the room, not wanting to disturb her. He pulled the chair close to the bed, opposite the monitors and IVs and folded his long body into it before scooping up her hand and pressing his lips against her fingers. He was relieved to see that she looked better, still incredibly pale, but not as ghost white as she had been in the hall. The cold, clammy feel was gone from her skin as well. Warmth had returned. Andy's heart clenched when her lids fluttered before opening.

"Hi there." He was never so glad to see those beautiful eyes looking back at him.

"Hi." She smiled faintly at him. "How bad is it?"

Air left his lungs in a rush. "Hell…" Andy shook his head. He stood up and leaned over her, lips firm against hers. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Hm." She reached up, laid her hand against the side of his face. "Sorry." Sharon looked up at him, saw the worry, the terror that hadn't receded from him yet. "I'm still here."

"Yes you are." He kissed her again, a gentle brush of his lips against hers before he sat back down. Andy continued to hold her hand, and leaned forward, elbows resting on the side of her bed. "You look good," he said, answering her earlier question.

"Liar." She snorted at him.

"Well…" He tilted his head and gave her a crooked grin. "You should see the other guy, repeating her line from a few years before."

"Mmhm. That's right, we've been here before." Sharon smirked at him. "Oops."

Andy chuckled. "Oops?" He shook his head at her. "The kid was right, you are a little loopy aren't you."

"Hmm." She shrugged. "You might want to make sure I don't agree to any promotions."

"I don't know. If it means I could be a Captain by morning…" He kissed her palm. "Don't worry, babe, I've got your back. I suppose that also means I should refrain from asking you to move in with me, marry me, or otherwise make any permanent changes right now."

"Probably a good idea." She closed her eyes again but continued to smile.

"Damn." He laid his head on her thigh, careful of her knee. "Love you."

Her hand found his head and settled in his hair. "Me too."


	17. Chapter 17

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 17

Sharon was released from the hospital on Saturday, and with her condo still a closed scene pending the conclusion of the investigation, Andy insisted on taking her, and Rusty, home with him. His house was more than big enough, and easier for Rusty's security to keep an eye on than the hotel that Sharon suggested they stay in. Until the SIS investigation was closed, Rusty still had two officers monitoring his safety, but it looked like very soon he might be without his shadows.

With Sharon out of the hospital and on the mend, his house arrest almost at an end, the boy was brimming with energy. He didn't even mind that he couldn't go back to the condo for any of his things. It also helped that he had spoken to Doctor Joe, just as he promised Sharon that he would. He didn't even mind that the trial was still months away. He could deal with all of that, and Emma too, if it meant they were done with the letters and the threats, and that Sharon was going to be okay.

Andy carried Sharon into the house, while Rusty trailed behind them with their bags. Her knee was still in the brace, badly bruised and painful to walk on, but otherwise healing. The cut in her side had taken more than thirty stitches to close, and given how it wrapped around her thin form, they were not allowing her to use crutches to get around. When he stepped over the threshold with her, Andy stopped and waggled his brows at her.

Sharon snorted. "Don't make me laugh. It hurts." She slapped his shoulder. "Hurry up and put me down, Andy, before you end up throwing out your back."

"You're kidding right? Babe, you weigh about as much as a sack of potatoes." He carried her in to his living room and settled her carefully on the dark, leather sofa. He pulled a soft throw pillow over and tucked it beneath her knee when she turned and settled comfortably in the corner of the large sectional. Then he pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and draped it over her.

"Did you really just compare me to a sack of root vegetables?" Her brows lifted. There was amusement in her green eyes.

"Of course not. You're way prettier than root vegetables." He kissed the top of her head before he straightened. "Hey kid, you can just drop the bags by the stairs. So… I suppose you need the tour. You," he pointed at Sharon. "Stay put."

"Hm. Who is being bossy now?" Sharon leaned her head back.

"Who just strong-armed her way out of a hospital two days before she probably should?" Andy smirked.

"Go, tour," she waved them away. "I'm not moving." She was exhausted and aching. It had taken more out of her than she thought, but Sharon had abhorred the idea of staying in the hospital over the weekend. Two days was more than enough. She waited for Andy to pick up the bags and show Rusty up the stairs before she looked around.

It was the first time that she had been there. Necessity had meant spending their time at her condo, where Rusty was. The house was located in a nice neighborhood, it was one of the older ranch style homes, but well kept. Open and airy, not nearly as dark as she might have expected - save the furniture. He did like dark furniture, and all of it in matching leather, dark brown. It matched the deep cherry wood furniture, the dark hardwood flooring and the entertainment center that appeared to have been built around the large flat screen television.

It was tastefully decorated, but so very masculine. The walls were beige, as was the carpet. The furniture and the drapes, a deep red, were all dark, masculine, and she decided very Andy. So were the sports magazines on the coffee table, and the memorabilia mixed in with family photos and paintings. Sharon tipped her head back and closed her eyes. She was fond of dark colors as well, so it suited.

Rusty followed Andy up the stairs and noted the short hallway. "Okay," Andy said, "you've got my room down there," he pointed. "The bathroom is right here, there's a guest room over there, and I was thinking I'd put you up here by the stairs. There are two guest rooms, so if you don't like it…"

"No, it's good." Rusty stepped into the room and looked around. It had the same light, beige colored carpet as the rest of the house, but the walls were a dark blue. "It's cool. I like the blue and it's close to the bathroom. I won't have to wonder about falling down the stairs on my head in the middle of the night. It works."

"Not the thought I had in mind," Andy chuckled. "Good. Drop your stuff there, give me a second, and I'll show you the rest of the place." He walked down the hall with quick, long strides and pushed open his own door. He tossed Sharon's bag inside onto the bed and returned to take Rusty back downstairs. "Kitchen, dining room," he pointed out each of them. "There's a laundry room off the kitchen. The door there opens into the garage, but it's full of crap. Actually, I've been thinking about hiring you to help me clean it out. This might be a good time for that."

"Pizza is not appropriate payment for manual labor," Sharon called from the sofa. "Rusty, I expect you to negotiate a decent wage."

"Hey." Flynn tossed a playful frown at her. "Whose side are you on, babe?"

Sharon smiled and pointed at Rusty. "The seventeen year old whom you are attempting to maneuver into manual child labor for personal gain." Her head tilted. "Although a little hard work wouldn't hurt him."

It was Rusty's turn to frown. "Hey."

"Never mind, consider me Switzerland." Sharon leaned back got comfortable again. She waved a hand at them. "Carry on."

Rusty's lips pursed. "I thought they took her off the morphine."

"They did." Andy was grinning. "But they gave her vicodin before we left the hospital, and called in a prescription for more."

"So she's…"

"High as a kite, again." Andy laughed at the face she made at them. "What they gave her at the hospital is a lot stronger than anything they prescribed. They wanted it to last long enough to get her home and settled. Don't worry, Kid. She'll be back to her usually bossy self soon enough."

"Really." Rusty shoved his hands into his pockets and flashed a devious little grin. "Bummer. I was hoping for a new laptop."

"If you're going to take advantage of the fact that I am under the influence of narcotic pain relievers," Sharon stated from where she lay, eyes still closed. "The least you could do is aim big. Like Andy did." She waggled her brows at them.

"I'm going to the pharmacy." Andy walked over and picked up his car keys. "I'll grab something to eat on the way back, any preferences? No burgers."

"What if I want a burger." Sharon smiled when she felt the shift in the air and looked up to find him bending over her.

"You don't want a burger." He caught her lips, kissing her quickly, once and then twice. "Soup and sandwiches?"

"Maybe a salad," She decided. "I'm not really hungry. Something light, definitely." She stroked his cheek. "Go. I'm going to sleep this off before I give you boys something more to laugh about."

"Want me to take you upstairs?" He swept her hair back and stroked the side of her neck.

"No," she said quietly. "I'm fine here. It's okay, Andy. You can go. I'm right here, and I'm okay." She hummed when he kissed her again.

"You guys get that I'm standing right here, right?" Rusty waited until Flynn stood up before he said it. "New place, but same rules. I mean, come on. I'm very impressionable."

"You're a pain in the backside," Andy tossed out playfully. "I'll be back soon." He walked toward the door but stopped with his hand on the knob. "Hey, kid…" He pointed toward the living room. "Keep an eye on her?"

"Yeah," Rusty shrugged. "I can do that. I'll make sure she behaves."

"_She_ is sitting right here and can hear you," Sharon muttered.

"Sharon, I'm having a moment here." Rusty grinned as Flynn left. "I'm the babysitter for once. Don't rain on this parade."

"Yes, yes, a red letter event." Sharon pulled the blanket up beneath her chin. "Enjoy."

Rusty watched her sink into the soft leather, saw her relax and her breathing slow and even out. The lines on her face softened and he realized she was asleep. He smiled. He was going to enjoy it. He enjoyed knowing she was okay, that they were all okay now. Rusty walked over and lowered himself, quietly, into the other end of the sectional. He settled back, watching her. Flynn's place wasn't so bad. He wondered if Sharon would want to leave, once all this was over. If she would want to even go back to the condo after what happened. No matter what though, at least life was going to start getting back to normal soon, or whatever passed as normal for them.

Andy returned a couple of hours later carrying several bags. He really hoped that Sharon had napped, so he let himself back into the house as quietly as possible. Along with what she needed for the pharmacy, he had picked up lunch, as well as groceries for several days. He didn't cook much for himself, and when he did, they were simple meals for one, or two if Provenza was around. He had also been spending a few nights a week at Sharon's condo for over a month, so he really didn't have much food in the place. Since he had hardly left Sharon's side at the hospital, he shopped while he had the chance.

He carried the bags into the kitchen and set them on the bar which separated it from the living room. It was then that he got the chance to glance out and check on Sharon. He shook his head and chuckled quietly. They were both asleep on the sofa. He supposed they were all exhausted. It had been a long few days.

Andy put everything away and carried Sharon's pills and a glass of water into the living room. There was an antibiotic as well as the pain pill, he put both bottles beside the glass on the coffee table and then dropped into the leather recliner nearby. He kicked it back and sighed. Yes, they were all exhausted. He felt like he could breathe for the first time in days. Andy let his head fall back and his eyes close. Now that he had her there, he had to figure out how to keep her from leaving. As much as he'd like to not let her out of his sight again, that wasn't going to be possible. They had dangerous jobs, and she was a strong, capable, officer. Hell, surviving the attack as she had was evidence of that.

No, he wasn't macho enough to think that he could lock her away and protect her. He could try, but she'd kick his ass. Sharon was good at taking care of herself, as well as everyone around her. She had enough practice at it. Andy wanted to know that she was safe, but more than that, he wanted to know that she _felt_ safe, and as easily as that dirtbag managed to get into the condo… well, he didn't know that she would feel safe there again. Sharon wouldn't talk about it yet, wasn't ready. She gave her statement to FID and SIS, but he knew that she wasn't going to talk about anything beyond that until she could stand in her home and deal with the fallout first hand. That's who Sharon was. She would face it. He would just have to be around to offer whatever support she needed.

Packing her up and moving her in seemed like great support to him.

When Sharon woke sometime later it was to a house filled with silence and the unsettling sense of disorientation at not knowing where she was or how she had come to be there. The feeling only lasted a few moments, long enough for the hazy, pain-reliever induced fog to clear, allowing her to sort through her memories and recall how it was that she came to be sleeping on the sofa in Andy Flynn's living room.

Moving drew a gasp from her, as the stitches in her side pulled, leading her to the conclusion that it was the sharp ache there which had awakened her. Sharon hummed quietly as she sat up. The keen pain in her side was far more intense than the deeply bruised knee. There was a definite catch in it when she eased her legs around and moved herself into a sitting position. Sharon concentrated on breathing while she sat there, slow, even breaths until the sharp pain in her side faded enough that she was no longer seeing spots behind her eyes.

When her vision cleared, Sharon saw the glass and the pill bottles, easily within reach. She managed a small smile as she reached for both of them. After the pills were taken, and the water glass half drained, she replaced both onto the coffee table and took a moment to rest and study her surroundings. She found Rusty curled and sleeping nearby, on the other end of the large sectional sofa. Her smile softened at once. He was exhausted, he had left her side only when forced to do so, and it had taken both Lieutenant Provenza and Buzz to make him leave the hospital. She couldn't imagine he had been sleeping well, if at all, and it was certainly understandable.

Familiar soft snoring drew her attention to the recliner. Andy's legs were crossed at his ankles, and with his arms folded behind his head, he was more relaxed than she could recall seeing him in recent memory, even before the attack. The lines on his face seem to have faded, leaving her to realize just how many new ones had appeared since the letter left at his door. They had surely managed to shave a few years off his life this week, or so he had told her. She would never quite remember the look of abject terror in his eyes. Like Rusty he hadn't left her side, only to come home long enough to shower and change, or to report to the station and check in with the current case as needed. The rest of the squad had covered for him, and the constant moving between hospital and office had taken its toll. He was exhausted, she knew, and part of the reason she had negotiated so strenuously for him to take her to a hotel. Andy wouldn't hear of it, and the simple desperation in his gaze when he insisted on bringing her home was the reason she finally relented. She loved him, and she hated that he had gone through so much these last few days. If it made it easier for him for her to be here, it was no great hardship to let him take care of her.

Even if she honestly could manage. They were both so dear, to worry as they did, but it wasn't the first time she had been injured on the job and while she might be a good deal older now, how difficult could it be? It wasn't as though she also had two small children to care for.

It was with that thought in mind that Sharon steeled herself against what needed to come next. She had heard Andy telling Rusty that there was a bathroom on this level, and really, Sharon knew she must look as terrible as she felt. She craned her head around, and spying the short hallway beyond the kitchen, which lead to a den that he used as an office, she was able to identify the direction of the bathroom. She drew a deep breath and held it as she pushed herself up. It was more difficult in practice than it had seemed when she originally considered it. She tried to keep as much weight as possible on her good leg, and somehow that led to putting more strain on the muscles of her stomach and sides.

A soft whimper was drawn from her, but Sharon made it to her feet and only teetered a bit while she found her balance. She wisely didn't move until she was certain that she could without falling over. Then it was a matter of shuffling, at least until she made it far enough to the end of the sofa that she could use it for extra balance. It was a matter of shuffle and limp at that point, each movement a jolt of pain that made her grit her teeth and force air in and out of her lungs through her nose. She glanced at her sleeping son and lover, hoping that she wouldn't wake them as she made the long, arduous journey toward the bathroom.

She made it, after what felt like walking miles rather than just a few yards, and it left her feeling far more exhausted than she thought it should. Although, in hindsight, perhaps trying to go that far on her own wasn't an entirely bright idea. Certainly not the smartest thing she had ever done. She found she was right about one thing, she definitely looked terrible. Pale, with dark circles under her eyes, and probably looking every bit of her age. She sighed quietly. There was little she could do about that at the moment, and took the added time in the bathroom to smooth out her hair and wash her face. That at least gave her a little more color and feeling better, she felt she looked a little more decent as well.

Once she was finished in the bathroom, hobbled back toward the living room. The trek back seemed to take far more effort than the original _walk_ to the bathroom. Sharon wound up hunched over the bar, breathing deeply and trying to stay on her feet. Two arms closed around her and she startled, humming quietly. Her body was aching so badly that she hadn't heard Andy leave the recliner over the sound of her own heart beating wildly.

"You must be the single, most stubborn woman I have ever met." Andy's voice was soft, and his lips moved against her hair as he drew her up against him. Waking to find her not where she had been, only a short while before, gave him a few bad minutes. That was until he had heard her moving down the hall. "Okay?"

"Mmhm." Sharon could only manage to nod. She leaned more heavily against him than she would like, and didn't even argue when he lifted her this time. Her arms moved around his neck. She let her head fall against his shoulder with a sigh.

He held her for just a moment before moving. His cheek rested against the top of her head. "Couch or bed?" As much as he wanted to continue holding her, she couldn't be comfortable. The stiffness in her body, the way she was trembling, he knew she must be in pain.

"The couch is fine," she said softly. "I just need to rest a minute. I'll be fine."

Andy carried her back to the sectional and settled her down there, only this time he sat with her and let her lean against his body. His hand moved into her hair, stroking gently. "Did you take your pills?"

"Yes, Andy." Sharon smiled, but slanted a look up at him. He and tucked a pillow between them and she was able to lean against it and him, supporting her side and easing the discomfort. Her head settled back against his shoulder. "I'm sorry that I'm worrying you. It really didn't seem that far."

Andy sighed. He turned his lips into her hair again. "Too much?"

"No," she laid her hand on his thigh and gave it a light pat. "Not at all… maybe a little." Sharon lifted her head and smiled at him. "I understand how you feel. This hasn't been easy on any of us." She felt his body stiffen beneath her and her brows drew together. "What?"

"I don't think you do know." Andy fought the sudden swell of agitation her words evoked. It wasn't her fault, she couldn't know the bad moments he'd had reliving that moment. "I don't think you can really understand what it felt like to find you laying there like that. I didn't know if you were alive or dead. All I could see was you, not moving, bleeding out on the floor. I couldn't tell if you had been shot or…" His jaw clenched and he shook his head. "I've had some bad moments, Sharon. I'm probably going to have a few more before it's over. I'm sure I'm going to end up being a real bastard about it. I'll be sorry as hell about it, but I keep thinking about how close we came to losing you."

"Then on top of it I'm being a rather difficult patient." She smiled gently at him and leaned up to kiss the corner of his mouth. "I am sorry, Andy. I'm just not used to… I'm afraid it's not going to get any better." She gave him an apologetic smile. "By the time I'm moving around on my own again, I'm afraid you're going to have to deal with me being a real bitch."

"Sharon." Andy grinned down at her. "I hate to be the one to have to tell you this but… I'm sort of used to you being a real bitch."

Her lips pursed. "Is that a fact?" The amusement in his eyes had her head tilting, and rather than bristle and take offense, her brows lifted. "Care to elaborate?"

"You've only sent me to anger management how many times?" He shook his head at her. "Busted my chops every time, gave me hell, and then there was that trip to sensitivity training… that was fun."

Her lips pressed together. She snorted quietly. "Hmm. Yes. I was so mean to the poor, hotheaded homicide detective."

"That's what I've been saying." He grinned at her. "Hey… My point is, I've seen your mean side, and you know, I've been right where you are now. I get it. There isn't a lot you can do that is going to chase me off. So if you need to be… you know, whatever. Go ahead. I think we're both just going to have to deal with this. Get it off our chests and just handle it."

"Try to not take it personally when it happens, but I have a feeling that's easier said than done." She laid her head against his shoulder again. "So we'll fight, and you'll just have to wait so we can make up."

"That's the best part of fighting." He started combing his fingers through her hair again. "It's my favorite part of getting you all wound up."

"I hadn't noticed," she drawled in a dry tone. Sharon relaxed against him with a sigh. The pain medicine was beginning to take effect. Her body continued to ache, but not with the same sharp throbbing that had left her breathless. "We're going to be okay. It isn't like we aren't old hats at most of this."

"It's the word _old_ that I object to," he said lightly.

"Shhh…" Sharon's hand stroked his thigh when Rusty shifted next to them. "Don't wake him, he's exhausted."

"Yeah… kid had it rough." Andy sighed again. "He managed to skirt Sanchez, he got into the apartment. He saw you, Sharon. Before Julio got him out of there, and let me tell you, it wasn't a great sight."

"Damn." Her eyes closed. "I was hoping maybe that wasn't the case. It was inevitable, I suppose, given the scene of the attack. He's handling it, though. A year, even six months ago, he wouldn't be. He'd have closed himself off to everyone and turned sullen again."

"Yeah." His fingers rubbed her scalp until her heard her hum again. "He's doing alright, overall. It's over. I think that's the part that's pulling him through it. He's come pretty far, but knowing that it's done and his life is going to get better helps."

"He can hear you." Rusty muttered against the back of the sofa. "Do you guys always talk about me like that when you think I can't hear you, or I'm not around? It's kind of creepy."

"This is nothing." Andy smirked. "When you're not around it gets a lot more detailed."

"Andy." Sharon shook her head at him.

"Yeah, figures." Rusty rolled off the sofa and stretched. "Okay?"

"I'm fine, honey." Sharon smiled warmly at him. "Thank you."

"Food?" Rusty cast a hopeful glance at Andy.

"Kitchen. I grabbed some stuff from that little bistro that Sharon likes. There are some of their baked sandwiches in the oven, a couple of bowls of soup. There are a couple of salads too, in the fridge. Sharon?"

She wasn't really all that hungry, but she shrugged. "You know, some soup would be good. I'm not sure I'm really up for anything else right now."

"Come on, Kid. I'll help." Andy shifted carefully out from under Sharon and helped her reposition on the sofa before he followed the teenager into the kitchen. "Hey babe, do you want the tomato bisque or the vegetable?"

"Hmm." Her head was tipped back against the sofa again. "Surprise me."

In the kitchen, Andy and Rusty exchanged a look. The teenager shrugged and pulled two sandwiches out of the oven. He put both of them on a plate, one for Andy and one for himself. "She gets like that sometimes," Rusty said. "She isn't hungry, but she'll eat so you don't worry. I wouldn't, like… push her on it though, because she will get upset." Rusty gave him a look. "That isn't fun."

"Really." Andy flashed a grin. "Yeah, I've seen upset. I'll tell you some stories some day." He spooned up soup in a bowl and heated it in the microwave before placing it on a tray. He knew she might prefer tea, but he got her juice instead, it would be better for her. He lifted the tray and started back toward the living room. "There's this really funny one involving me, Sharon, and this hook—er, suspect that said I felt her up."

"Andy!" Sharon glared at him. "You will _not_."

"It was years ago," he continued without heeding her warning. "Way back before Major Crimes was even a mild annoyance. She was still with Internal Affairs at the time. You see, my partner and I caught this murder, this dirtbag, some wannabe pimp was robbing prostitutes down near the boulevard. Well, he tried to collar the wrong one and she let him have it."

"_Allegedly_," Sharon cut in. "And why are you still telling him this? That is not a story that is appropriate for anyone, much less a teenage boy."

"Oh no, it's good, trust me." Andy set the tray across her lap. "He needs to hear this one."

"Yeah, Sharon." Rusty brought his plate to the living room side of the bar and slipped onto one of the stools, facing Andy, who had put his own plate on the coffee table. "Everyone is always saying I don't take enough interest in people other than myself, so… and I want to hear it. What happened," he asked Flynn.

"Okay so, this guy gets popped, and we're liking the hooker for the murder. There were witnesses that saw them arguing. Saw him try to rough her up, and she basically kicked his ass," Andy gestured as he spoke. "So we haul her in, put her in interrogation, and in the process, the bi—"

"_Andy_." Sharon groaned.

"Suspect," he amended with a smile. "Goes nuts. She's kicking, she's screaming, she's got nails like a freaking bobcat and she's basically scratching the shi—_crap_ out of my partner and me." He was trying to curb the language in deference to Sharon, but it was hard. He heard her huff a loud sigh and his eyes sparkled. "Well, we're standing there, bleeding. I'm pretty sure my partner will never be able to have kids, because she knocked him a good one, he's practically throwing up in the corner. Meanwhile, a couple of uniforms helped us get her cuffed. Well now she's screaming sexual harassment claiming someone grabbed her chest." Andy screwed the lid off his orange juice and lifted it, drinking quickly. "So, what happens? Our Captain has to call down and report it. Internal Affairs sends someone up to deal with the situation. We're thinking, okay, no problem. It's going to be a pain in the ass, no one likes dealing with IA, but obviously, we're bleeding, my partner is hurting, and it's going to be a slam dunk."

"Oh no…" Rusty could see where this was going, especially with the way that Sharon had rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.

"Oh yes." Andy shot a playful look at her. "So, here comes this little brunette, all business and typical IA bullshit. I think to myself, okay, I'll be helpful. I try to tell her what happened… she sits me in a corner and tells me to zip it. Which, obviously, pisses me off. Then she asks for someone to bring up a doctor, so that the _victim_ can be examined… Which is a little annoying, so I'm like, Lady I don't need a doctor. What I need is for someone to wrap this up so I can question my suspect on why she popped her pimp. At which point, the little brunette," he hooked a thumb at Sharon, "proceeds to inform me that the doctor is for the _young lady _in interrogation that has been manhandled. Well, I'm steadily getting more pissed off by the moment… but my Captain is telling me to cool it. So I bite my tongue, and I just wait… and wait… and finally, the Doc finishes looking at my _suspect_, and IA finishes questioning her. So now it's our turn. Finally, the guys who got the crap kicked out of them can have a little medical attention, and oh by the way, at what point did I think it was okay to grab the suspect's breast." Andy scratched his upper lip. "So then I start laughing. It's been a hell of a day, and that was just too much. I am practically rolling in the floor. My partner thinks I'm drunk, my Captain thinks I've lost it. The little brunette is just getting more irritated by the second… and she's all like," he pitched his voice higher to mimic her, "would you like to tell me what is so amusing, Detective?"

Rusty had to lean against the bar as he laughed. "Oh my god, that sounds just like her. What did you do?"

"I told the Lieutenant from IA that if I was going to be copping a feel, brunettes with attitude were more to my liking, and by the way… had she really gotten a good look at the suspect? She was so flat, she was probably a guy, and oh by the way, if I wasn't covered in blood I might demonstrate what copping a feel looked like so there could be no question if I had done it or not."

"You did not." Rusty's eyes went wide. He glanced at Sharon and then back. "What happened? That could _not_ have been cool."

"It wasn't," Sharon stated, glaring at her storytelling lover.

"She wrote my ass up, sent me to sensitivity training, but…" Andy shrugged. "It was worth it. The look on her face was priceless."

"Yeah, but what did she _say_," that was what Rusty wanted to know.

"I believe," Sharon interrupted before Andy could reply "That what I said was something along the lines of… I was quite aware that the suspect was in fact, a male, and that regardless of that until proven otherwise, the allegation had to be treated seriously. I was sorry that he was so upset, but his attitude was not appreciated, and perhaps a week in sensitivity training would help clear things up for him in case of future incidents…"

Andy arched a brow at her. "_And…_"

Sharon rolled her eyes at him. "And that if he touched me he would be joining his partner in the corner with the waste basket."

"Oh my god." Rusty's eyes went wide. He started laughing. "You really threatened to hurt him?"

"Oh yes," Sharon said seriously. "More than once." She opened her juice and took a sip. "Eat your sandwich, Rusty." She lifted her own spoon, as if to make her point clear. "What you don't understand, Rusty, is that Lieutenant Flynn used to be a belligerent pain in the backside."

Andy shrugged. "Used to be? This one gave back as good as she got, made it a challenge. Getting in trouble was never so much fun as when she was on call."

"For you," she said pointedly. "You were not the one getting pulled out of bed in the middle of the night because some trouble making homicide detective was always asking for you, by name."

"Uh huh, but who kept doing it _after _she was in charge," Andy remarked with a grin. "Face it, you liked me."

Sharon snorted. "No one else in my division would deal with you."

"Yeah, until you got that new kid, and started giving all my stuff to him." Andy pouted at her. "That hurt."

"In case you hadn't noticed," she reminded him. "By then, you were Priority Homicide, and I had your entire division to deal with. You people have been thorns in my side since almost day one."

"Yeah," his grin was slow. "Now we're your thorns, so… you have to like us."

"Hmm." She said nothing and sipped gingerly at her soup.

"Okay, okay," Rusty waved a hand at them. "No arguing kiddies." He smirked at them.

"Face it," Andy reached over and rubbed her leg. "No one threatens me with anger management quite like you did. Made being an asshole boring when you stopped."

"Exactly my point," Sharon grinned widely at him. "Take away your favorite toy and you finally decide to straighten up."

He started to open his mouth and stopped. Andy frowned at her. "Hey."

Sharon gave him a delicate shrug. "Sorry honey."

"Wicked." Andy decided. "Just… wicked." He leaned over and kissed her.

"That's my cue." Rusty stood up with his plate and took it back into the kitchen. He had devoured his sandwich while Andy told his story. "Hey, I'm going to go, like, get my stuff settled. Sharon, do you need anything?"

"No, Rusty. I'm good, but thank you." She shared a smile with Andy. "You don't have to run off, we can control ourselves, you know."

"It's not that." He walked back into the living room, hands in his pockets. "I really do want to see if I can get some stuff settled in, maybe take a shower."

"Alright. If you're sure?" She gave him a pointed look.

"Sharon." Rusty smiled back at her. "I'm sure. You guys don't bother me. Seriously."

"Go on." She leaned back on the sofa, letting her head rest against the cushion.

"Thanks." Rusty started up the stairs. "Besides, it's not like that's the worst thing I've caught you two doing…"

"Oh god." Sharon moaned. She had hoped he would forget about that first date eventually. It seemed he still had a little mileage left in it.


	18. Chapter 18

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 18

By Tuesday of the following week, the final reports had been delivered regarding the shooting which had taken place at Sharon's condo. FID had cleared her, and SIS had also turned in their report. The SIS supervisor, along with Lieutenant Provenza, and Captain Raydor had gathered in Assistant Chief Taylor's office to go over the final conclusions of the case. DDA Rios was also present, as the case impacted her impending trial action.

With the investigation concluded, Sharon's condo had been released only the previous evening. She had not been back to it yet, but Sykes and Sanchez had gathered several bags worth of items for herself and Rusty. Neither Detective had been particularly comfortable with going through the Captain's private things, but Sykes had managed to gather several comfortable items of clothing, a couple of suits in case they were needed, and other personal items, makeup, shampoo and the like. Sharon was finally beginning to feel like herself again. It helped, too, that she was on the mend.

Her phone had also been released, and Rusty once again had his laptop, chess board, and iPod. They were still guests in Andy's home, but they didn't feel quite so disconnected any longer. It was amazing how just a few personal belongings could help reconnect one with the world.

Andy had a few things to say about her coming in today, but she was on the mend. She felt much better than she had during the weekend. It was nearing a week since the attack. Her injury sight was still incredibly sore, and it hurt when she moved, more so since she began taking less of the pain relievers and relying more on over the counter medications. Her knee was still painful to walk on, but she could walk on it. She was moving slowly, but she was moving. It helped, the movement. It kept her body loose and as long as she did not over do it, it made it that much easier to move the next time she needed to.

She might not have been office ready yet, and she certainly wasn't about to put herself back on duty, but Sharon needed to hear the report. She needed to know how Douglas Grand had gotten past all of them to the point of nearly killing her… of almost getting to Rusty.

"Alright everyone," Taylor indicated the SIS supervisor handling the Captain's case. "Now that we are all here, let's go through it."

Lieutenant Marcus nodded. "We managed to piece together the sequence of events from the night of the attack based on the Captain's statement, and the statements from Lieutenant Flynn, and Detective Sanchez. We also spoke to the uniform officer who was responsible for the Captain's security on the night in question." He glanced around the room before continuing. "According to the Officer, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just another resident taking his trash out. The resident returned a few minutes later, and that's when he was incapacitated. The officer was, as we all know, found in the stairwell later." The Lieutenant drew a breath. "It turns out, our suspect, Douglas Grand, was in fact a resident at the complex. He rented a unit on the ninth floor under an alias. He had apparently been living there for about seven months. Inside the apartment we found discarded drafts of previous letters, the notebook they were written from, and other weapons. We also found pictures both of Captain Raydor as well as Rusty Beck."

"So he was right under our noses the entire time," Sharon stated quietly.

"When we began looking into the threats, we had no reason to investigate Douglas Grand," Marcus said. "He was a fellow witness in the case. He was already facing his own charges. The fact that he was present at the events that place Rusty Beck in a position to testify were fact. He really didn't gain anything from stopping the trial."

"No," Sharon said. "But that isn't what he was after was it? In the end he wanted to blame Rusty for his own mistakes."

"Continue, Lieutenant," Taylor nodded. He wanted to get through it, so that they could officially close the case and move on.

"Mister Grand gained access to the residence after dispatching the Officer. He picked both the primary lock and the secondary deadbolt. He then used a small set of wire cutters to remove the chain lock. From the Captain's statement, and the evidence we were able to use to corroborate that… he entered the residence while she was in the rear section, master bath. As the Captain was waiting for Lieutenant Flynn to arrive, and the Lieutenant has a key to the residence, she left the bedroom believing that the entry she heard was the Lieutenant arriving, she met the suspect in the hall. They exchanged words, at which point Mister Grand became extremely agitated. The Captain was able to use the master bedroom as cover when the suspect's weapon was discharged. At that point, the two engaged in a physical altercation as the Captain attempted to disarm the suspect. She was subsequently injured and forced to subdue the suspect by shooting him." He took a moment to let the details sink in. When the Captain nodded, agreeing with that series of events, he continued. "Afterward, the Captain was unable to use the phone in her room to call for additional support, so she attempted to reach the phone in the outer room, losing consciousness in the process. Detective Sanchez arrived on the scene with the Captain's ward later, followed shortly by Lieutenant Flynn. After that, it is a matter of the incident commander's log."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." Taylor folded his hands together on his desk. "Do you have any further questions for the Captain, or are you satisfied with closing the investigation at this time?"

"No, Chief." Marcus replied. "We can close. FID has already cleared Captain Raydor, and we agree with their findings."

"In that case, Lieutenant, you are dismissed. Thank you." He nodded to the man, but indicated for the others to remain behind.

"Yes sir. Ma'am, Lieutenant." He nodded to each of the others before taking his file and leaving with it.

"DDA Rios," Taylor turned his attention on her next. "The Department is satisfied with the findings of the investigation. How about the District Attorney's office?"

"We agree. With the conclusion of the case, it seems any further threats to the material witness, Rusty," she added at the sharp look the Captain gave her. "Have been eliminated. Phillip Stroh's activities in jail will continue to be monitored, in case he decides to take a page out of Mister Strand's notebook, but otherwise we're satisfied with the end result. With the obvious exception of the Captain's injuries."

"Obviously," Provenza muttered.

Sharon gave a slight shake of her head, silencing him. "Can we agree then that we can lift the police protection on both Rusty and myself?"

"I don't want to completely let him run wild," Emma stated. "But I can agree to loosen the net a little. We will concede to allowing Rusty to return to his school, if he wishes to do so, but no car…" She pointed a finger at them. "We still need to have the appearance of protecting a material witness. We cannot be offering him things like… cars and… anything else which could be construed by the defense as a bribe."

Sharon sighed softly. "Emma, it isn't a bribe." She smiled wanly at the younger woman. "I'm trying to adopt Rusty. The papers have already been filed. There's a very good possibility that by the time your trial comes around he won't be a foster child living with an LAPD officer anymore. Legally, he will be my son."

The office grew silent. They were waiting for Emma to have one of her famous outbursts, but instead she inclined her head at them. "You know, I can work with that." She pointed at the Captain. "No, really," she said at their surprised looks. "That works. Once you adopt Rusty, there are legal ramifications. You can't just toss him back into foster care, or onto the street. _Not_ that I think you would, or am in anyway insinuating that, Captain. I'm simply stating that, if the adoption is final by the time we go to trial… the defense can argue favors for testimony until they are blue in the face, but I can fight that. Easily."

"Well, why didn't you say so before," Provenza glared at her. "We could have done this months ago."

"Lieutenant," Sharon simply shook her head at him again. "Well, I'll keep that in mind, Emma. Are there any other restrictions you would like enforced on Rusty? I can agree to having him dropped off and picked up at school as he was the previous school year."

"No," she said. "Just be cautious. I don't think any of us are ready to completely let our guard down yet. The trial is getting closer, but we still have some time. You can tell Rusty that barring any further threats, I see no reason for continued house arrest, or witness protection."

"He'll be thrilled," Sharon stated.

"I think that settles everything nicely." Taylor rose from his seat and noticed the others did as well, although the Captain far more slowly and with assistance from Provenza. "Captain, go home. We need you back on duty, not back in a hospital. We appreciate you coming in today, but… the rest of us hurt just looking at you."

"For once, I'm not going to argue." Sharon limped toward the door, keeping one hand on the older Lieutenant's shoulder. She had warn flats with her dress pants and blouse. Just the thought of heels and her knee had ached in warning. For the moment, she was stiff from sitting for so long, the chairs in the Chief's office were not meant for comfort, she decided.

"You, not argue?" Provenza smirked at her. "What kind of medicine are they giving you?"

"You'd like to know, I'm sure." They made their way, slowly, toward the Major Crimes murder room. "Don't worry, I'll be in arguing form soon enough."

Provenza grunted at her. "When are you coming back?"

Sharon slanted a look at him. "Don't tell me that you're missing me?" A smile slowly curved her lips. "You were only too ready to be rid of me not so long ago. Now you're missing me? Lieutenant, I'm touched."

"Oh don't flatter yourself," Provenza rolled his eyes at her. "I just never realized how much paperwork goes with this job. Not to mention that you are the only person alive that I think can read Flynn's chicken scratch."

"Oh, is that all." Sharon chuckled. "Well, I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me," she continued to smile at him. "Another couple of weeks at least. Even after the doctors release me, I have to deal with the Department Psychologist. Between the attack and the OIS, the department wants me doubly covered."

"Don't tell them you're drinking, tell them you've had a few dreams, but for the most you're sleeping just fine. Whatever you do, do not mention using your pain drugs to help you sleep," Provenza advised. "Look him in the eye, don't fidget and use shrink words like support system."

"Lieutenant," Sharon slanted an amused look at him. "Are you telling me how to get around my departmental psych eval?"

"Of course not." he shrugged. "Just a little friendly advice. Take it how you want it."

She laughed quietly. "You know… I have done this before." Sharon shook her head at him. "I know it's easy to forget, but I wasn't always one of the rats."

"Oh?" He drew out the syllable. "Could it be? Darth Raydor is equating herself with us now, and not with the RS? No…"

"Oh hush." She rolled her eyes at him. "You all are just a bad influence on me, that's all."

"Finally!" Provenza announced as they stepped into the murder room. "Finally we've done something right. We have tarnished her majesty's shiny halo! Our very own Captain just referred to them as _them_, meaning her old departmental stomping grounds, and herself as _us_. It's a proud, proud day… Who got the pot on how long it would take?"

"This is what I meant," Sharon stated as they started deciding who had won, and how much. "Bad influence."

"Captain," Tao called from his desk. "When are you coming back? Say it's soon."

"Very soon." Buzz shot a pleading look at her.

"Soon as she can make a break for it." Flynn glanced up from the stack of paperwork he was quickly working through. "Stubborn that one."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sharon's chin lifted marginally. "With the obvious exceptions, I'm enjoying my time off, and I'm sure that Lieutenant Provenza is doing an excellent job in my absence. So sure, that I just know you're all giving him the same attention to detail that you give me."

"See, told you she was feeling better," Flynn grinned at them. "She's taking the fun out of us giving him a hard time already." He closed the file he working on and put it back on the stack on his desk. "You ready to go?"

Sharon nodded quietly. She wouldn't like to admit it, but she was tired and aching already. However much she felt better, she was not quite office ready yet. "It can wait a few minutes if you need to."

"No, we're good here." Flynn stood and moved into the office to retrieve her bag for her.

"Captain," Sanchez leaned forward in his seat. "How did it go?"

"As we'd expected," she said. "Both FID and SIS have wrapped their investigations, so now it's a matter for my doctors. DDA Rios was pleased as well, so Rusty will be going back to school. I want to thank you all for your help these last several months. I know it hasn't been easy, and I'm sure he hasn't always shown it, but both Rusty and I do appreciate all of your extra time and effort on his behalf."

The team passed looks around the room. "You can thank us by coming back." It was Provenza that spoke, from where he sat, flipping through a file rather than his ever present crossword puzzle.

The Captain drew a breath and nodded. "Soon I'm sure," she stated, finding it difficult to speak past the sudden swell of emotion. Flynn returned and she turned toward him, hoping to hide the sheen of moisture that filled her eyes. "Lieutenant."

"Captain." They weren't fooling anyone. Their relationship was a well known fact by now, but they kept up professional appearances as much as possible. He settled her bag onto her shoulder on her good side before stepping around to take her arm on the other. He tossed a nod at Provenza as they started toward the exit. He would be on his cell, they could call him if they caught a case - which was how they had been operating since the attack. While he was spending as many hours as he could at the office, no one had disputed the fact that Sharon needed someone to help her at home also. His partner had covered for him as much as possible, and Taylor had not made it an issue, yet. That was only a matter of time, but they knew it would depend on their cases.

"Am I taking you home?" He waited until they were closer to the elevator to ask.

Sharon sighed softly. "No, I think you need to take me back to my condo." She leaned into his side while they waited for the elevator car to arrive. "We both know the longer I stay away, the harder it's going to be to face it. It will be easier to do without Rusty there."

"Sharon, if you're not ready…" She had seemed to pale when thinking of it. Andy knew she was a strong woman, but even Sharon had her breaking point. The elevator opened and he helped her into it. Andy maneuvered her toward the back corner of the car so that she could lean there. They were, thankfully, alone. "You don't have to rush this," he continued. "There's time. You know that you're welcome to…"

"I know." Sharon turned, cutting him off. She laid her hand against his chest. "It's just that we tell people this all the time… victims of attacks, home invasions… we tell them they can't allow what happened to force them out of their homes. I don't think I understood just how trite it sounded until now. Now that I _can_ go back to the condo, if I avoid it, I'll keep avoiding it indefinitely and that isn't good for either myself or Rusty. Or you," she added with a warm smile. "As much as I've liked staying with you, I can't continue to hide at your house."

The elevator opened and they drew silent as they left. It was that way until they reached Andy's car. He thought about all she said, and understood it, but the thought of letting her go back to that condo to stay left him uneasy. Andy waited until he had her settled in the car and was behind the steering wheel before he turned to meet her gaze again. "You wouldn't have to be hiding, Sharon."

"Andy…" Air left her lungs in a rush when she realized where he was trying to steer the conversation.

"Think about it." He cupped her chin. Andy knew she would need to turn it over in her head a few dozen times. It might take her a few days, or even a few months, but he had planted the idea. As long as she thought about it, that was all he really needed. "You can say it's too soon as much as you like, but it's time we face reality, babe. The night of the light festival, it wasn't the first date. Not really. Hell, we're not kids, Sharon. How many times have we said that? We've both been down this road before, and it might just be that we learned enough the last time to get it right." His thumb swept across her lips. "You can say no. That won't change anything for me. I'm still going to love you. I'll still be here."

Sharon leaned across the car's center console to kiss him. "I'll think about it," she promised him. Although it might terrify her, she would give it the thought it deserved. There wasn't only herself to think about, even if she did come to the conclusion that she wanted to stay with him, she had Rusty to consider now too. He seemed content enough with Andy that he wasn't overly uncomfortable staying at his house. Sharon didn't know how he would feel, going back to the condo after everything that happened… but no matter her decision, they had a deal, a promise that she had made when he first came to live with her. "Andy, it might take me a while. Rusty and I have a thirty-day rule. I promised him I'd give him warning of any major changes - unexpected injuries notwithstanding. I can't go back on that now." She wouldn't let the boy have sole veto power on any decision she made, but she would hear him out and they would discuss it.

"It takes as long as it takes." He kissed her again before sitting back. "The option is on the table. Even if it takes a year. Okay?"

"Okay." Sharon leaned back in her seat and got comfortable. She leaned her head back and let her eyes close. She heard the car start and felt him back out of his spot. Her hand continued to rest against the console and when his fingers closed around it she smiled. "Andy, have I ever thanked you?"

He looked over at her as they left the parking garage, a little baffled, a little amused. "For what?"

"You tend to go where angels fear to tread, I've always admired that about you." Sharon's head rolled toward him against the headrest. "You might be a little hotheaded, but usually what you're shouting is exactly what everyone else is thinking. You've certainly kept me on my toes over the years. Staying ahead of you was never easy, but I liked the challenge. You were always the first one to call me out, but you were also the first one to accept me when I transferred. You push, and you keep pushing, but you're also there for me when I need you." She pressed her lips together when it became to hard to speak through the emotion threatening to choke her words. Sharon shook her head. "I know I'm not easy. I have high standards and even higher expectations, but you keep trying. So thank you," she whispered the last.

Andy looked for the first opportunity and pulled the car over again. He pushed it into park and turned so that there could be no question as to where his attention lay. "Sharon, you've never asked more of anyone than what they should be capable of giving, and you never ask for more than you're willing to do yourself. Standing by what you believe isn't easy, or more people would do it. You've done that, in spades, and mostly you've gotten crap for it, but anyone willing to take the time to bother can see that you're willing to meet them halfway. It's annoying as hell, but you do what's right and force the rest of us to be better. If anyone should be thanking someone, it should be me. Life isn't meant to be easy, Sharon. Loving you, that's the easy part. Got it?"

"Hmm." She nodded, lifted her fingers to his jaw. "Got it."

"Good." He took her hand and kissed her palm. He placed it back on the console while he put the car back in gear and pulled into traffic, only to reach for it again once they were moving. He laced their fingers together and rubbed his thumb against the side of her wrist.

The rest of the drive was silent. It wasn't far to Sharon's condo, part of its appeal when she bought it was the proximity to Parker Center, and it wasn't that much farther from the newer center. Andy knew they wouldn't be staying very long so he pulled into a visitor slot in front of the building. Sharon took a deep breath when he opened her door for her. She couldn't suppress the grimace when she stood.

"I'm fine." His concern was immediate. "Really. Let's get this over with." Sharon took his arm and leaned against his side while they made the walk inside. She prepared herself for the looks that she received, but it was still unsettling. By now everyone in the building knew what had happened. She thought that, more than anything, might be harder to handle than stepping back into the condo. Andy glared at them, but she rubbed his arm. "It's to be expected. They're curious. Come on," she patiently maneuvered him into the elevator. "Police officer gets attacked in her own home, people are going to stare. They're not bothering me, Andy."

"They're bothering the hell out of me," He stated gruffly. Where were her incredibly concerned neighbors when shots were being fired, or when she was bleeding on the floor?

Sharon rubbed his arm again. She thought he might relax, but the higher the elevator climbed, the more tense he became. Her heart lurched when she realized how hard this would be for him, as well as for her. She slipped her arms around his waist and leaned more fully against him. "We don't have to do this today. It can wait."

Andy looked down at her and managed a small smile. "No, you were right. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. As much as I'd like you to stay with me, this is something _you_ need to do. Maybe it's something we both need to do." His hands slowly rubbed her back. "We've both seen enough department shrinks, and hell, I've been to enough AA meetings to know that we need to close the chapter. It'll keep haunting us if we don't."

"Then let's be done with it." She pressed her lips against the tip of his chin and turned in his arms when the doors of the elevator opened. Sharon drew a breath and let it out slowly. His hands were on her shoulders. They made the walk together, and she drew her keys out of her purse.

Her hand was shaking when she went to place the key in the lock. Andy covered it with his. He pressed his lips against her ear and wound an arm around her waist. "You can do this. You were stronger than Grand then… you're sure as hell stronger than him now."

She nodded silently and steeled herself against the moment. They turned the first lock together and she managed the second one alone. There was something oppressive about the air in the condo when she pushed the door open. She flipped the light on as they stepped inside. Sharon dropped her keys into her purse and hang it on the coat rack, where it normally went. She limped, wordlessly into the living room and stood there for a moment. There was plenty which was out of place, but there had been dozens of people in the place since the attack. Paramedics, uniformed officers, SIS, FID and her own people.

"We can call the cleaners when we leave here," Andy told her, easily interpreting her distress when she saw the scuff marks the paramedics had left behind on her hardwood floors. He stood nearby, hands hanging at his sides.

"We'll need them," she stated, eyes drawn toward the hall. Sharon sighed softly and made the walk, knowing it would be all the harder if she waited. The wall was still stained, as was the floor. The blood smears on the wall were brown now with age, as was the large stain against the baseboard and floor where she had lain waiting for help.

Andy shoved his hands into his pockets and followed more slowly. This he had already seen. It didn't make it any easier seeing it again, but at least she was with him. He had the evidence of her survival right in front of him. With Sharon standing near the open bedroom door, he could see just how close Grand had come to not missing his shot. He pushed air out of his lungs and forced himself to inhale again.

The low sound he made drew Sharon's attention away from the blood stains. She glanced his way and seeing his stare, followed his gaze. The splintered, cracked wood where the bullet had struck was nearly at eye level. Sharon reached back and curled her fingers into his sleeve so that she could draw him forward and slide her hand into his.

He kissed the back of her head and slid his other hand up her back. It settled against the back of her neck and stayed there. "Almost there," he said quietly.

She nodded, but her eyes closed. She drew a breath before they stepped into the bedroom. Any other time and they'd be pushing the door closed, and he'd already have her half undressed while she laughed and they both tried to stay quiet. Now when they stepped inside her hand tightened painfully around his. The room was in complete disarray, there were outlines on the floor. It was obvious that her things had been gone through, although Sharon was certain that was Sykes packing her bags for a prolonged absence. Sharon heaved a sigh. It was even rare that her children came into her bedroom, and she was left feeling quite bereft that her privacy was so exposed. That was nothing compared to the cold chill that settled over her when she turned and found the dark stain which marked where Douglas Strand had died.

Andy saw the grief in her gaze and slipped his arms around her again. He turned her away from the sight and held her. "He wouldn't have made it, Sharon. Morales said it was a fatal wound. There was nothing that anyone could have done, and if you hadn't shot him, I'd be standing here by myself and Rusty would be alone."

"I know." She shuddered against him. "I've cleared enough of these to know I did the right thing. This isn't my first trip around this particular track, but its never easy. It's not the shot I regret most… it's the intrusion. It's the loss of security." Sharon walked around the bedroom, shaking her head at the mess. She opened a couple of drawers and pulled out a few items that she would like to have, but Sykes wouldn't have known to pack. She placed them on the bed. "You know, I'm a study in statistics. I left my parents home for school. I went from home to dorm, to the little apartment Jack and I had after we got married. We bought the house when I got pregnant with Ricky, but as hard as I worked to keep it all those years, it never really felt like _mine_. I sold it when Katie left home. It was too big for just me, and there were other reasons… but this was mine. I found it, remodeled, decorated…" She pulled a small bag out of her closet and began filling it. "It's the first stable home that Rusty has ever had. That's the part that I mind. Clean, paint, refurbish the floors, but what's left?"

He watched her, slinging clothes into a bag, retrieving cosmetics and pulling the thick, soft cardigan she loved so much off the back of the closet door and rolling it into the bag. "You're mad." The rigid line of her back, the short, jerky movements. His head tilted, that was not an emotion he expected, but Sharon was always a surprise to him.

"You could say that." She zipped the bag closed and straightened. "He was right under my nose. How long was he living, right here, two floors down, and I never even realized it. All the times Rusty came and went, driving himself to school, the store, to pick up dinner… all the times he went downstairs to pick up the mail, or down the hall to drop the trash. He could have grabbed Rusty at anytime. Our own security didn't realize he was a threat because he was a resident. He was watching us from almost the start, he knew our routines, right down to the nights he could expect you to be in my bed, and I never even noticed."

"No one did." He pulled her to him and folded his arms around her. "How could you expect to find him living in your building when even the people who were supposed to be watching both your backs didn't know? Sharon, there was no way for you to know. It's not like you're on a first name basis with all of your neighbors, you know a couple of them by sight, and okay, so you know the names of a couple of them on this floor. If it weren't for the names on the mailboxes I doubt I'd know who any of my neighbors were. There's nothing you could have done. Believe me. I've gone over all of it in my head, a dozen different times and a dozen different ways. There wasn't a damned thing anyone could do. It's over now. You're still here and you're both safe."

"Hm." Her fingers curled into his jacket and she held on. Sharon's head rested against his shoulder while his hands smoothed up and down her back, trying to sooth her. "I'm still pissed off." She looked up at him through her lashes before she wriggled closer.

"Such language." Andy pressed his lips against her hair. "The mouth on you. I swear." He leaned back and tipped her face up. "Are you sure you're not a Jersey girl?"

Sharon snorted at him. "You would be so lucky. California girl, born and raised."

"With those legs, and those eyes, of course you are." He drew a breath. "I love this state."

Face pressed against his chest, Sharon began to laugh. She curled her hands into the lapels of his jacket while her shoulders shook. "You are so bad."

"You've been telling me that for years," Andy drawled. "But here we are…" His hands slid down her back, and his fingers twined against the base of her spine. "Right now I'm stuck in a fantasy that involves you, a pair of roller skates, a bikini top and…"

"_Andy!_" She shook him. "Really." She rolled her eyes at him. When Sharon tipped her head back to look at him, she found he was smiling down at her, the familiar blend of affection and mischief in his eyes.

"You forgot." His dark eyes warmed. "For just a few seconds you stood right here, and you forgot. That means you can. It'll get better. If we paint, refurbish, and you just can't stand it… there are options. You move in with me…" He waggled his brows at her. "Or we find you another place that you can feel good about again."

"I really do love you," she said softly.

"It's really mutual." He kissed the top of her head. "Ready for me to get you out of here?"

"You have no idea." Sharon reached for her bag and smiled when he took it from her. Then he took her hand and they left the blood stains and bad memories behind.


	19. Chapter 19

More Than Luck

By: Kadi

Rated: M

Chapter 19

Rusty watched while Sharon moved around the kitchen. It was a lot larger than the one at the condo, but she seemed to have it already completely figured out and never missed a beat as she moved from oven to stove, then to a cupboard to pull down a stack of plates. Normally, at the condo, while Sharon cooked he would sit at the bar, well out of her way, or at the table. Here, he was able to lean against one of the cabinets and watch. Rusty worried his bottom lip between his teeth and picked at his finger nails.

"Sharon." He'd finally decided it was better to just ask. Here they were on a weeknight, and she was making dinner like she always did if she wasn't working late, but this wasn't their kitchen, and it wasn't their house. But she was wearing the same comfortable yoga pants and sweater she would be wearing at home. He waited for her to finish pulling several plastic containers out of the fridge and look at him. "Why are we still here?" The question surprised her, but Rusty could tell when she tried to cover it. He watched her set the containers slowly on the counter and continued, even though he could already see her struggling with the answer. "I mean… we've been here for like a month already. I'm back in school, and you go back to work in a few days. Those guys you hired to clean our place have been done forever, and even the contractors who did all the painting and stuff are like, seriously, long gone. So why are we still here? It can't really take that long to get rid of the smell of paint and… I don't know, whatever it is that you put on wood floors. And don't get me wrong, it's not that I totally don't appreciate that Lieutenant Flynn let us stay here, but we've sort of been here a long time."

"Yes, I suppose we have." She was meticulous as she opened each container and took out fresh vegetables for a salad. "Rusty, I'm not sure that I can explain it… but I will remind you that _Lieutenant_ Flynn has asked you numerous times since we've been here to call him Andy."

"Yeah, well," he shrugged. "That still feels weird to me." Rusty walked over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of juice. "I'm like, working on it, but it just doesn't feel right when I start to say it. Sort of… disrespectful, I think."

"I understand," she smiled proudly at him. How far he had come. It never ceased to amaze her. "But it isn't disrespectful when you're asked, and I think it would mean a lot to him."

"I'll try harder," he promised. But he realized she dodged his other question and fixed her with a look. "_Sharon_."

"Hm." She chuckled quietly. "That doesn't work on you anymore does it?"

"It stopped working after the second week." Rusty leaned back against the cabinet again. "I stopped pretending it worked after the first month."

Sharon picked up a chopping knife and considered the colorful array of vegetables in front of her. "To tell you the truth, Rusty, I'm not sure that I can put it into words for you. I've been back to the condo several times since that first visit with Andy, after the attack, and it just hasn't felt… I wasn't comfortable. I was hoping that once the repairs were complete that I would feel better about it, but I haven't. It isn't even necessarily that being there frightens me, it's just that overall sense of not being safe that I can't stand feeling in my own home. I suppose I just thought that if I felt that way, you would too. I didn't want to inflict it upon either of us."

"So…" He couldn't imagine that was a good thing. "What are we going to do?" Rusty wasn't really thrilled about the idea of going back there. He had gone, a couple of times, with Sharon and Andy and once with just Sharon. He got what she was saying. The place just really felt… _wrong_, now. Like it had been tainted, poisoned.

"I've been thinking about that." She sprinkled chopped vegetables into a salad bowl while she spoke. Tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh chunks of carrot. The knife clicked rhythmically agains the cutting board while she worked. "Andy asked us to stay," she told him. "I've been thinking about that. I promised him I would at least think it over. I didn't want to mention it until I had some idea how I felt about the idea. I've also been thinking about just selling the condo and getting another one. Maybe something closer to the beach. There are some nice pieces of real estate out in Santa Monica that are just inside my budget. We'd both have a little bit of a commute on our hands, but… it's workable."

"What do you want to do?" Anxiety filled him, knotting his stomach. He picked at the label on his juice bottle. He was almost afraid to hear her answer.

"It really isn't entirely my decision anymore." Sharon shrugged. "I'm not saying it's an entirely equal decision either. You'll be off to college soon, but in the mean time, it is still the two of us. Wherever I go, I'm going to need to make sure that there's room for all of you to visit. I can't imagine it would be very logical to have three kids fighting over a spare room and two camp beds… because no matter what, pal, after next Tuesday you and I are a one-hundred-percent legally packaged deal. There will be no getting rid of me."

Rusty rolled his eyes at her and leaned forward against the bar, chin in his hand. "Sharon, no offense, but there's been no getting rid of you since day one."

"Hm." She shrugged. "True." A smile tugged at her lips. In less than a week the adoption would be final. That was one thing out of the entire Douglas Grand affair that she could not regret. Even with the ordeal over and behind them, and life looking more or less normal now, they had decided to push forward with the adoption. In just a couple of weeks Rusty would be turning eighteen, but it had turned out to be about more than providing a home for a minor child. It was giving Rusty the one thing he never had before, a family that would never abandon him, even when they drove him crazy and he wanted to be left alone. They still had the trial to get through, but even that didn't seem so bad anymore. It was annoying, that it was just right there, out of reach, close but not quite as close as they wanted it to be.

"Alright, fine," Rusty twisted the bottle in his hands. "So what do _you_ want to do? Do you even know, because… we can't really stay here forever. Right?" He saw the way her hand faltered, and then she tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. It all lasted maybe a second before she was back to chopping vegetables as though nothing out of the ordinary was happening at all. "Oh. My. God." Rusty stood up and walked around into the kitchen to watch her more closely. "That's what this is all about isn't it?"

"Rusty." She sighed at him, put down the knife and turned away. Sharon walked to the stove and stirred the pan on top. Then she glanced into the oven again. After she closed the oven door, she stood there with her back to him. Sharon stared at the granite surface of the counter beside the stove. "Would it be so terrible?"

The question was asked so quietly that Rusty almost hadn't heard it. He almost felt bad for reacting the way that he had. Only almost because this was Sharon, and after everything that they had both been through - especially her - he didn't want to see her get hurt again. Jack had hurt her, and while Rusty really didn't think that Lieutenant Flynn ever would, he had a pretty good idea that when Sharon married her husband, she didn't think he would either. Of course, you never really knew what people were going to do. It was this whole predicting the future thing. If he could do that, he'd be rich. Or a really funky SyFy show.

Rusty thought about it, really thought about it because she wouldn't be asking if she didn't want him to tell her how he actually felt about it. He thought about the room he was sleeping in upstairs and all the built in shelves by the window and how he wouldn't mind filling them. Then he thought about what she said about him going to college soon, so he would be moving, because Sharon insisted that he have the whole experience. Unless he really just wanted to live at home for the first year or two, she wanted him to have a completely normal life, and normal was going _away_ to college. But not too far away, because she wasn't ready for that yet, and he and to come home and visit, and not just on holidays, but on weekends, and holidays, and just to get clean socks. He didn't know what he wanted to do about that yet, the college thing. Rusty wasn't ready to leave either, and that made this whole _where_ to live situation even more important.

In the end, the fact that she wasn't looking at those other properties in Santa Monica, but was standing there in Lieutenant Flynn's kitchen with her hair pulled away from her face, in her most comfortable pair of yoga pants… and that she was asking him, and in that way she had of wanting him to agree, but leaving it up to him anyway. He could see that she was braced for his answer, like she thought he would say no, that they had to leave. Of course, what she said about it not being an equal decision was true too. Rusty knew that if he said no, they'd leave. They'd find a place for just the two of them, and life would go back to the way it was before. Because that's what she did. Sharon took care of everyone else, but no one ever took care of her. Except maybe Andy, and Rusty realized that was the first time he'd thought of him by his name and not his title. Andy took care of Sharon, even when he wanted her to stay, he had brought home paint chips for her to look at for the new wall color. He had gone by the condo to check on the contractors, when she still wasn't able to drive herself those few weeks ago. He wanted her to stay, but he had done all that, had volunteered, as Rusty recalled, because if that's what she needed… that's what she'd get. He'd done such a good job, that Rusty hadn't realized that he wanted them to stay. And it wasn't just her. Sharon had said _us. _They watched sports on the big screen television in his living room, and there had been that guys night out in the newly cleaned garage that had involved bad card games, more sports, too much pizza and all the guys from the squad. Hadn't Andy drug him out there, away from his books, and told him that he was one of the guys too?

"No." Rusty realized it probably wouldn't be. So far it had been fine. It really had, and it wasn't just him agreeing for her sake. Although that was a big part of it. How much had she given up for him? Holidays with her kids? Visits with her parents? He hadn't even met the rest of her family yet, and he knew that had to happen at some point, and it scared the crap out of him, but if they were all like Sharon it couldn't be so bad. From the little bits of conversations he overheard, and the stories she told, he gathered they were pretty close. But here she was, having not seen them in at least two years except for this past Christmas with her kids.. all for him. Even till, that wasn't the only reason that Rusty shrugged his shoulders and added. "It wouldn't be so bad. Sharon, if that's what you want to do, I'm okay with it. Really."

It wasn't what she expected from him, not after the lengthy pause in which he had taken to arrive at that conclusion. Sharon had grown accustomed to all the ways in which Rusty could surprise her on an almost daily basis. He surprised her now. In many ways he was still a typical, selfish, teenage boy. Her reticence at mentioning their current living arrangement had come from a place where she expected that he would push for them to go back to the condo, or find another. "Really." She gave him a warm, affectionate smile. "What is it that you want to do, Rusty. That's important too."

"I know." He shifted where he stood and drug the bottom of his sneaker against the tiled floor. Rusty thought about that and shrugged again. He pushed his hands into his pockets and kept them there so that he would pick at his nails. "Sharon, where we stay, that's like… it's four walls and a roof, right? Just… you know, if you're there. That's all I really care about. Okay?"

Yes, he had a tremendous ability to surprise her. "Okay." Speaking wasn't easy, but she forced the word out past the sudden tightness in her throat. Sharon blinked rapidly because it always unsettled him when she became too emotional. That and they were very much the same. She didn't cry in front of people. She turned away from him to check the roast again and then turned the burner off under the glaze she was making for the steamed asparagus. She knew that Andy was a vegetarian, but she and Rusty were both healthy carnivores. They had found a steady balance between the two. "Did you finish your homework?"

"No." Rusty rolled his eyes and smiled. How did he know that question was coming next. "I just have some trig left."

"Then I suggest you get it done, dinner will be ready soon." Sharon smiled when he turned, using greatly exaggerated reluctant to go back to his work.

"But Sharon," he drew out her name. "It's trig. When am I ever going to use that. Ever."

"The sooner it's finished, the sooner you can stop asking yourself that." She returned to the salad she was making. "Go on." Sharon watched him, laughing softly when he trudged up the stars. Once he was out of sight, she exhaled quietly and felt herself relax. Her eyes closed. She needed to make a decision, and soon.

The aroma of a home cooked meal greeted Andy at the door when he stepped into the house. It was not the first time in recent memory that he came home to find that Sharon had been busy in his kitchen. Andy dropped his keys by the door with a smile and shrugged out of his suit jacket. He carried it with him into the living room and dropped it over the back of a chair. He was already loosening his tie as he stepped into kitchen to look around. He spotted Sharon placing a bowl on the small table in the corner. He didn't use his dining room, it was full of old boxes. It drove Sharon crazy when he ate on the sofa.

"A guy could get used to this." He pushed away from the entry and walked over to slide his arms around her. Andy pulled her back against him and pressed his lips against the side of her neck. "Hey."

"Hi." She turned in his embrace to kiss him. "How did it go?"

"We got him," Flynn shrugged. "He made his deal. One more off to Lompoc." His hands slipped down her back. "Where's the kid?"

"Upstairs. Homewor—oh!" She was lifted and sat on the counter before she could draw her next breath. In the next moment he had his hands in her hair and was kissing her so thoroughly she no longer cared about breathing.

"Been thinkin' about doing that all day," he muttered against her mouth, when the need for air became too great.

"Hm…" She smoothed her hands down his chest and straightened his shirt, where her fingers had fisted in it, drawing him closer. "Not the kind of thing you need to be telling your boss."

"Not my boss for at least a few more days," he reminded her with a grin. Andy lifted her off the counter and let her slide down his body. Heat danced in her eyes and he felt the answering ache settle low in his gut. "Hate not seeing you all day."

"By the end of next week you'll be wishing you didn't have to put up with me all day," she told him with a smile.

"Sharon, trust me, that's not what I wish while we're at work." He winked at her and walked over to take a cold bottle of water out of the fridge. He drained half of it while watching her flush a delightful shade of red.

"_Andy_." She shot an embarrassed, but amused look at him. "You're going to have to learn to control yourself."

"Oh… I control myself just fine, Sharon, believe me." He let his eyes move down her form and back up while he leered. "Your desk is still pristine. I am incredibly controlled, sweetheart."

"Damn." Her blush only deepened. Sharon had to lean against the table and take a breath at the image _that_ produced. "Andy, _really_?" She shook her head at him. "I have to sit at that desk now and work, with that in my head. You really are impossible." She lifted a piece of steamed asparagus and bit the tip off, chewing thoughtfully. "I mean, personally, I was more interested in the electronics room, there is less sound carry there, but my desk? That isn't one that is going away anytime soon."

"Hell." Usually when they were crowded into the electronics room there was little enough room that he was forced to stand or sit near her. More than once the scent of her perfume or shampoo had been nearly too distracting to ignore. "You win," Andy gritted out. It was already difficult enough watching her bend over that table, now it was going to be damned impossible.

Sharon had the satisfaction of watching the flush of heat rise up his neck. "Work stays off limits?"

"Way off." He drained the rest of his water bottle and tossed it into the recycle bin.

"Thank you." She smiled sweetly and went back to tossing the salad. "Will you give Rusty his ten minute warning. I'm just about finished here."

"Sure." He kissed the back of her head as he walked past. "I'm going to jump in the shower, get this day off."

"You've got time." Sharon lifted the bowl and carried it to the table. "Oh, Andy…" She gripped the back of kitchen chairs and half turned. "After dinner, we really need to talk about what we're going to do with all of those boxes you have stacked up in the dining room."

Andy leaned over the bar and gave her a puzzled look. "What about them?" They were old books, mostly, some odds and ends. Things he'd been meaning to go through after he moved in and either do away with or put away.

"After dinner," she told him with a smile.

"Yeah, alright." Andy frowned as he headed up the stairs. "Hey, kid," he called when he got to the top. "You got ten minutes. Wrap it up."

"I've been done," Rusty called back. "I didn't want to catch you two making out. Again." He appeared in his door and started toward the stairs. He passed Andy when he made the turn. "We have got to talk about those ground rules again. There are some things that I am not meant to see. Ever."

"So we'll buy you a bell," Andy stated. "Stop sneaking up on us and you'll stop seeing things you shouldn't."

"Yeah, yeah… rules." Rusty jogged down the stairs.

Andy snorted as he walked toward his room. "Just like his mother," he muttered.

"Heard that!" Rusty grinned as he leapt down the last few steps.

After dinner, while Andy flipped through the sports highlights on the television, Rusty volunteered to clean up the kitchen while Sharon took the book she started reading during her forced time off and got comfortable on the sofa. Andy smiled and drew her legs across his lap. His hand settled against her ankle, rubbing gently while he moved through channels. It wasn't so different from any other night, and they had found quite a routine the last several weeks. The longer Sharon and Rusty stayed with him, the harder it was to imagine having the house to himself again. Especially stepping into his bedroom and seeing her things mixed with his, the way her robe was draped across the chair in the corner of the room. Or her cosmetics arranged neatly on the vanity of the master bath. At some point she had taken over a shelf in the corner of his shower, and he hadn't minded at all. It was different, living with someone again. He had lived alone for so long that he had forgotten what it was like to walk into the house and smell dinner or to open his closet and find her dresses hanging next to his suits. He didn't even mind hearing Rusty's music playing in the morning while he drank his coffee and the kid got ready for school. Cohabitation wasn't so bad, and while he knew things would change when Sharon went back to work, he couldn't imagine them changing that much.

Thoughts of change reminded him of the brief conversation before dinner. Andy stopped flipping channels and turned the volume down low, leaving a faint murmur of background noise. His hand stroked up Sharon's leg to her knee. "What did you want to talk about?"

Sharon looked up at him, over the top of her book and smiled. She marked the page and closed it, allowing it to rest against her lap. "Oh." Her hands continued to hold it, toying with the edges. She glanced at the kitchen briefly when she heard the rattle of glasses in the dishwasher. "I was thinking that maybe… if you were still interested, Rusty and I might… stay for a while. I'm a packaged deal, Andy." She sat up a little more and smiled at him. "I come as a two for one deal, and if we're going to stay, there are going to have to be some changes."

"You've thought about it?" He wasn't sure what surprised him most, that, or that she was bringing it up. He understood her reluctance at going back to the condo. She was making noises about selling it. He had heard her talking to Gavin about contracting and other things that made his head ache. When she hadn't mentioned his asking her to move in again, he let it go. He wouldn't pressure her, and part of him started expecting that she would leave eventually.

"I said that I would," She smiled warmly at him. "The longer I stay the harder it is to leave, but we really have to talk about this."

Andy nodded slowly. "That's what you meant about moving the boxes out of the dining room."

"Yes." She shifted toward him. Sharon laid a hand on his arm and slid it down to clasp his hand. "If that offer is still good, I think I'm ready to talk about it."

"It's good," he told her thickly. "Stay, Sharon. It's worked this long. I know I get you both, and I can deal with that. The little pipsqueak grows on you after a while." Andy pulled her to him, until she was near enough that he slipped an arm around her waist and lifted her across his lap. "We'll figure it out."

"What about our kids?" She smiled indulgently. "What if they hate each other? This has the potential to be absolutely disastrous for both of us, do you understand that?"

"Your kids are great, and they adore you," Andy pointed out. "They'll mind their manners because you raised them to. Nicole already loves you, and Tony…" He shrugged. "It's a work in progress. Rusty's going to have issues with all of it, but we'll work that out like we always do. He'll wrap his head around it and then he'll be okay, because that's how he does things. He'll talk to Buzz, or he'll talk to Provenza. Rusty will be fine."

"You hate the church," she pointed out. Sharon wasn't trying to talk either of them out of the idea, but pointing out all the little differences that might make living together an issue.

"You still go to mass when you can," Andy shrugged. "I go to meetings instead. We don't have to do everything together." He slid his hand up her back to toy with the ends of her hair and tilted his head, as if asking her what was next.

"I like to keep a bottle of Moscato in the fridge for really hard days," Sharon pointed out, since he had mentioned his AA status. "Is that going to bother you?"

"I was a bourbon man, but the answer is no. It never bothered me at your place. I've been long enough without a drink that I can handle being around it fine. I usually play designated driver for the guys when they go out after a hard case." Andy grinned at her, pleased that she was comfortable enough to ask. "I'll let you know if that changes. When you want to have one of your giggle-fests with Gavin, I'll go to a game with Provenza."

"Giggle-fest?" Sharon raised a brow at him.

"Like schoolgirls," Andy told her. "It's going to drive you bat crazy when I leave my shoes laying in the middle of the floor, but I'm sure we'll figure that out too."

"Rusty will be going away to school at some point," Sharon said. "It will just be the two of us…"

"So we'll throw a swing set in the back for the grandkids. I doubt we'll get bored." He stretched his long legs out in front of him and leaned back on the sofa, still smiling at her.

"You make us sound so old," she shook her head at him. "But I can tell you right now, my father may take issue with me moving in with a man that is not my husband."

"After meeting Jack, your old man is going to love me," Andy said without pause. "He's not going to care about that, and we are old, Sharon. But if a ring will make this easier for you, I'll get you one."

"One major change at a time," she said, poking him lightly. "What about the logistical nightmare of combining two households? We both lived alone long enough that we are set in our ways."

"I'll stop eating on the sofa if it really makes you nuts," Andy replied. "But I'm not giving up my recliner. I'll clean out the dining room. I think that table of yours would look really good in there, with that cabinet thing."

"The credenza and hutch," she smiled. "The baseball collection has to go."

"I'll put 'em in the office," he shrugged. "Unless you want it. I hardly ever use the thing."

"No, I spend all day in an office," she said. "You can decorate it however you like."

"Is that it?" Andy arched a brow at her. "That all you got?"

"I think so." Her lips pursed and she thought it through. "Yes, that was everything. It's not going to be easy, I hope you know that. It may seem simple, but we may end up asking ourselves why we ever considered any of this."

"Sharon, I think we agreed a long time ago that there wasn't a damned thing about us that is easy." He grinned at her. "It just all boils down to one really simple question. What do you want? That's all you need to figure out. We'll work the rest of it out like we always do." Andy reached up and flipped her hair back behind her shoulder and stroked the side of her neck. "I know what I want. She's sitting right here."

"Andy…" She leaned forward and kissed him, lips soft. "I want to stay."

"Good." He hadn't dared to hope, but what began to blossom under the surface during their negotiation bloomed bright and fully. He pushed his hands into her hair and drew her down against him. "It's about time."

"Hm." Her lips curved against his mouth. "Love you."

"Hell of a thing," he muttered. Andy drew back and looked at her. The slightly swollen lips, the glazed, moss colored eyes. The way her mouth curved into that slightly crooked, completely naughty smile. "No idea how I ended up so lucky."

"It wasn't luck." Sharon slipped off his lap and stood in front of him. She took his hand and tugged him with her toward the stairs.

"You don't say." He turned off the television and tossed the remote onto the coffee table. "Then what do you call it?" He looped an arm around her as they started toward the bedroom he was already thinking of as theirs.

"I call it life, Andy. Just life."

Hell of a life, he thought. Hell of a good life.

_~FIN_


End file.
